Don't Let Him Go
by Miss Myrtle360
Summary: Complete. Song fic to song by REO Speedwagon. Lily and James are in their 7th year and facing new challenges: Sharing control of the school, being forced to get along, and, wait, finding new feelings for each other? Like that'll happen...Or could it?
1. Figuring

A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first fic, so if you like it, review and tell me what you think - if you don't, review anyways and tell me what you think. I aim to please here.

Talia: I am sooooooo sorry. I got grounded _again_ and I couldn't go on the computer for 2 days. I'm sooo sorry. But I hope you had a happy birthday regardless!

Well, please enjoy my fic!

Disclaimer: -Sighs- Idon't own any of the characters you recognize. If I did, do you honestly think I'd by writing fan fiction? No... And I don't own the song 'Don't Let Him Go'. That belongs to REO Speedwagon.

* * *

_So you figure that you've got him all figured out_

* * *

"We'll be seeing a lot more of each other now, Lils." James Potter said seductively to one Lily Evans, who happened to have the 'misfortune' of walking back from the Head's compartment with him. Lily rolled her striking emerald eyes. Usually she would've had some quick reply that would prove him wrong and make him look stupid, but right now, she knew there was no getting around it - this year, Lily Evans was Head Girl, and James Potter, much to Lily's disappointment and annoyance, was Head Boy. 

_Oh, this is just wonderful._ She thought as James slid into a compartment and out of sight. _I'm going to be stuck with that…that…idiot all year. God, he's going to be unbearable. _

You see, although no one really knew it, James Potter was absolutely smitten with Miss Evans, and it was not hard to see why. Although Lily would never admit it, she was very beautiful. With her wavy dark-red hair that fell to her mid-back, magnificent green eyes, porcelain skin, five foot seven height, and hourglass figure, she had captured the attention of Hogwarts's entire male population. And, while everyone assumed that James simply wanted to annoy Lily, the truth was that he had liked her for quite some time. The only problem was that Lily absolutely_ loathed_ Mr. Potter.

Lily continued down the aisle way and drew her attention to the head that happened to sticking out into the hall. This particular head happened to belong to Lily's best friend, Claire Dubois.

Claire was like Lily in a lot of ways, especially in the looks department. Of course, the two looked nothing alike, but when asked which of the two was more beautiful, you'd have a very difficult time deciding. Claire had shoulder length curly dark-brown hair and bright, electric blue eyes. With her ivory skin and pale pink lips, it was often said that Claire's looks rivaled those of the muggle fairy tale princess, Snow White. She was almost as tall as Lily, about five foot six, and captured the same amount of attention as Lily. The only difference between them was that Claire used her beauty to her advantage and had gone through several different boyfriends, whereas Lily had only had a few.

Claire stepped out into the aisle, put a hand on her hip and asked, "What took you so long? Your _prefect_ meetings never took _3 hours._ I finished that four hundred page book you lent me, and I've only had it since you left!" Clare's impatience would have normally made Lily smile or even laugh, but right now, she was not in the mood.

"Come in here," she muttered, pulling Claire into the compartment. She closed the door and a flurry of words rushed out of her mouth. "_James Potter _is the new Head Boy! _POTTER_! Who in their right mind would make _Potter_ Head Boy? And why the hell is it always ME who gets stuck with him?"

"Lily, calm down." Claire said, sitting. "I'm sure it's not _that_ bad."

"Not that bad? NOT THAT BAD?" Lily thundered. "How _exactly _is Potter being Head Boy 'not that bad'? The school's gonna be reduced to cinders under his rule, and I don't know about you, but I don't really want to go home to _precious Petty _after only one day!" She yelled at Claire, who stood and grabbed her friend's shoulders, forcing her to sit.

"Lily," she said, staring into her friend's green orbs, "Take a deep breath, and _calm down._" Lily obeyed, dropping her gaze to the floor. Claire continued. "You are Lily Evans, Head Girl and top of every class imaginable. You _will_ get through this."

Lily nodded. "You're right."

"Of course I am. Besides," Claire said, releasing Lily's shoulders and sinking back into her seat. "James Potter is Hogwarts's biggest heartthrob. I have no idea what you're complaining about."

Lily rolled her eyes at her friend's supposed blindness. "James Potter is an egotistic, womanizing asshole. What exactly do you see in him?"

"I think the question is, what _don't_ _you_ see in him." Claire responded, a small smirk creeping up her delicate face. "You know you think he's cute, at the very least."

Lily snorted. She would never, ever admit to thinking that James Potter was cute. Never.

And yet…There was something about him that drew Lily's attention towards him. But what?

* * *

_He's a sweet talking stud who can melt a girl's heart with his pout_

_He's the kind of lover that the ladies dream about_

* * *

Once they reached the castle, Lily and Claire took their usual seats across from each other at the Gryffindor table and patiently awaited the Sorting. They watched happily as six girls and seven boys were sorted into their house. 

"I wouldn't want to be in _those_ dorms, think of how crowded it'll be!" Claire said as Professor McGonagall took away the Sorting Hat.

After Dumbledore had given out words of welcome and warning, Lily and Claire began filling their plates with their favorite foods, which had magically appeared on the table. Lily was just about to take a rather large bite of lamb chop when James Potter came and sat down beside her, slinging his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Enjoying the feast, girls?" He asked. Claire nodded and smiled at the look of deepest disgust and loathing on her friend's face. Using her thumb and forefinger, Lily lifted James's arm off her shoulders, dropped it, and said, "Well I _was_, but then you had to come along and ruin it."

At this, James put on huge puppy-dog eyes and pouted. "Ah, you cut me deep, Lils." Lily simply sneered at him. "Well," he said, with a fake look of offense, "I know when I'm not wanted." As he stood to leave, Lily mouthed "_Finally_" to Claire. It seemed she had spoken to soon, however, because James leaned down and quickly kissed Lily's cheek, running back to his seat before Lily could swipe at him.

Lily narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her nose at him and his friends, who were congratulating him on not being the victim of one of Lily Evans's slaps. As she turned away from them, Lily noticed that she was receiving many extremely nasty glares from the other girls residing in the Hall. "My God, anyone who's in love with that idiot is bloody insane." And judging by the looks she was receiving, Lily concluding that almost _every_ girl at Hogwarts was 'bloody insane'.

Of course, every other girl saw what Lily had turned a blind eye to. James Potter was probably one of the hottest guys to every come to Hogwarts, he along with his friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. James had deep hazel eyes that were framed by round glasses and extremely messy jet-black hair.

Sirius Black looked so much like James that the two were often mistaken for brothers. His black hair fell gracefully into his dark blue, almost black eyes that always had a mischievous glint in them. Both well built and fit, James and Sirius both stood around six feet.

Remus Lupin, on the other hand, had a much fairer completion than his friends. He had light brown hair and warm grey eyes that could almost see into a person's soul, or so it seemed. He was slightly shorter than James and Sirius, and not as well built, but he had an air of mysteriousness that neither James nor Sirius could construct even if they tried.

The three also had another friend, Peter Pettigrew, who was by no means like his friends. Short and porky, it was often wondered why the others hung around him, but most assumed it was out of pity. Together, Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew made up the infamous Mauraderers, a group of unstoppable heart-and-rule breakers who ruled the school, so to speak.

Lily shook her head as she turned back to Claire and her food. "What?" she asked, upon seeing Claire shaking uncontrollable and snickering into her mashed potatoes.

* * *

_He's got plenty of cash_

_He's got plenty of friends_

* * *

It was now October, and the first Hogsmead trip. Lily and Claire, who were both shopping nuts, decided to go together and catch up on their Christmas shopping. 

"You can never start too early, "Lily had said when Claire pointed out that Halloween hadn't even come yet.

They had been shopping for about three hours, their arms loaded down with shopping bags and packages, when the two decided it was time for lunch. They had a tradition of always going to the Three Broomsticks, sitting in the same booth, and ordering sandwiches and Butterbeers. So the two walked slowly up to the pub, pausing to look into store windows and talk to other Hogwarts students.

"So who all did you buy gifts for?" Claire asked, as they walked into The Three Broomsticks.

"Well," Lily said, heading toward their usual seats. "I got something for mum, for dad, and for- Potter!"

"You bought a present for Potter?" Claire asked, looking at her friend, eyebrows raised.

"No, look!" Lily said, turning Claire by the shoulders. Claire's eyes widened. James Potter, along with the rest of the Mauraderers, was sitting in _their _seats. Claire could feel the heat radiating off Lily. She knew her best friend hated change. It just wasn't something Lily liked dealing with.

"Lily, it's fine, let's just go find somewhere else to sit." Claire said, hoping Lily wouldn't blow up and cause a scene. To her amazement, Lily agreed, but only to "get away from that git and his overly large head."

As they were walking away, however, Sirius Black noticed the pair and shouted, "Hey, Evans, Dubois!"

The two turned. Lily impatiently asked, "What?" at the same time that Claire said, "Yeah?"

"Sit with us, ladies." Sirius answered. He and the rest of the Mauraderers moved over to create more room for the two.

Lily looked at Claire in a way that clearly said, _If you make me sit with them, I'll make you eat that table_. Claire smiled slightly and whispered, "It's just once, Lily. And besides, we haven't gotten a chance to talk to Remus lately." Remus was a friend of both Lily and Claire, and Claire hopped that this would convince her. Lily looked around the pub to see if there were any other open seats. There weren't.

"Fine." She hissed back to Claire. "But if Potter tries anything, I'm leaving."

"Ok," Claire said, hoping to God that James kept his hands to himself.

"What would you ladies like to drink?" James asked, leaning back into his seat.

"Butterbeer." The girls responded simultaneously.

"Coming right up." James walked slowly up to get their order. Lily and Claire sat down and looked at each other. "Remember, one thing..." Lily whispered. Claire rolled her eyes. "I know, Lily, we'll leave."

"So, I haven't seen much of you two this year. What have you been up to?" Remus asked the girls.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Homework mostly." Claire responded. "And Lily's got her Head duties." She said, indicating to her friend.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said. "How's it going along with Jamsie?"

"Fine." Lily replied coolly. She was staring at her napkin as if willing it to jump down her throat.

"Really? Because from the way he describes it, you've been avoiding him."

"Yes, and that would be why it's going fine." Lily said, her eyes on Sirius. "Because I don't have to put up with Potter."

"What about me?" James asked. He was holding two foaming bottles of Butterbeer in his fists.

"Lily was just declaring her undying love for you, James. It's too bad you weren't here to witness it, it was _magical_." Sirius responded. Lily glared and kicked him under the table. James was looking at Lily. "No, really. What about me?" He asked, setting the bottles down and taking his seat.

"We were just discussing how much of an egotistic jerk you are." She said seriously. "How much do I owe you?" She asked, indicating her Butterbeer.

"Nothing, it's fine." James said, sinking into his seat. "But an apology would be nice." He added as an afterthought.

Lily snorted. "Why should I apologize for telling the truth?" She asked, standing up.

"Because maybe it's the nice thing to do. Oh yeah, I forgot, you're the Ice Queen. You don't have a sensitive bone in your body!" James replied, also standing. Seeing as there was a four inch difference in their heights, Lily had to look up to glare at him.

It appeared that James had struck a nerve. "Don't go talking about things you don't understand!" Lily hissed venomously, her eyes flashing. Everyone else at the table could see that James had gone too far. Claire had never seen Lily so angry before. She knew that now was the time to leave. "Lily -"

"And what about _you_?" Lily asked James furiously, cutting Claire off. "You're the one who goes around and picks on random people just because you can! And you think _I'm_ cold hearted? HA! Look in the mirror, Potter, and I don't mean to see how 'handsome' you are! Look at yourself and figure out if you actually _like_ what you see. Oh, and when you finally decide to grow up, tell me so I can prove you wrong!" Lily yelled. She grabbed her coat and stomped out of the pub, leaving her full bottle of Butterbeer behind.

James's eyes followed her angrily until she left the pub. When the door slammed, he sat down. Claire stood up and handed James 11 sickles for the Butterbeer.

"Keep it," He said quietly.

Claire shook her head. "I'm sorry, about...well, that." She said, slightly uncomfortably. "Well, bye, everyone. Remus, it was nice talking to you again." And, grabbing Lily and her Butterbeers, she exited the pub.

* * *

_He drives woman wild and then drives off in a Mercedes Benz_

_He's a long wick with a flame at both ends_

* * *

"Look Lily, I'm not saying what he did was right, but you shouldn't be so cruel to him." Lily and Claire were now jogging along the corridors that lead to the Gryffindor Common Room. Claire was trying to make Lily see reason, but Lily just wouldn't. They were now almost at the Gryffindor tower. 

"Oh, that's nice. My best friend is siding with the enemy!" Lily shrieked. She felt so betrayed, and she hadn't even _done_ anything. _Well, unless you count screaming my head off at Potter, but still, that was nothing! _Lily thought angrily.

"I'm not siding with anyone!" Claire exclaimed. "Why do you even hate him so much? What's _wrong_ with him?" They reached the Fat Lady's portrait. Claire gave the password. "Daterramsidy!"

"We've already been over this! He's an egotistic, womanizing-"

"But that doesn't explain anything! Just because he's not a good person doesn't mean you have to _hate_ him!" Claire retaliated." And another thing-" Lily interrupted, flung out an arm and pointed to a remote corner of the Common Room. James Potter was snoging another girl, who had her hands all over him.

"You still don't get it?" Lily asked Claire coldly. She turned and directed her attention to the couple in the corner. "Hey, Potter, Elsberry!" She yelled. The two broke apart. The girl, Sarah Elsberry, blushed. "20 points from Gryffindor for excessive public displays of affection." Lily turned, with every intention of going up to her dorm to read, when James found his voice.

"Just because_ you_ can't get someone to snog you doesn't mean you have to take your problems out on others!"

Lily stopped and slowly turned, her eyes full of pure hatred. When she spoke, her voice shook. "Well, you wouldn't know if I snoged anyone recently, now would you?" She said. He registered what she meant and his jaw dropped. And with that, Lily continued up to her dorm. People in the Common Room were so shocked, they didn't even notice the tears that were flowing down Lily's cheeks.

Claire stared at her friend's retreating back. After she heard the door to their dorm slam, she rounded on James. "What the hell is your problem?" She yelled, fury etched into her delicate face.

"_My_ problem? What about her? _She_ started it!" James said indignantly.

"I don't care! Right now, Lily's upstairs crying because of you!"

"Oh yeah, like the ice queen could cry," James muttered quietly, but not quietly enough, because a split second later, Claire's hand hit his face with a slap that cracked like a whip. James held a hand up to his stinging face.

It was at this moment that Sarah Elsberry made herself known again. "James, that was really, really cruel, what you did," she said timidly.

"Oh, shut up and go back to your room like a nice little girl," James snapped at her. Sarah backed away, eyes wide. Claire could tell that it cost Sarah a lot to say that, and she wouldn't really blame her for crying over James, which, according to Lily, was wasted tears. Too bad Lily had a habit of contradicting herself.

Claire glared hard a James, then, still looking at him, said, "C'mon, Sarah, let's go back to our dorm. I don't really want to stay down here with this git any longer." And with that the two girls walked quickly up the stairs that lead to the girls' dormitory, leaving behind a very disgruntled James and a very stunned Common Room.

* * *

So, what'd you think? Review and tell me! 

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	2. Growing Up

A/N: Hi everyone! Well, chapter 2 is up! (It took long enough...)

I'd like to thank hpmaniac3241, Anjali, Talia, Lauren, and Zemmy for reviewing! It means so much to me that you guys like my fic!

Well, here goes...

Disclaimer: If I take some of this Polyjuice Potion, I could be whoever I want, including JKR. But seeing as I'm not...

_

* * *

_

_But don't let him go_

_Just give him a chance to grow_

_

* * *

_

Lily lay on her four-poster bed, just thinking. She wiped a tear off of her beautiful face and sighed heavily. Why did she care so much about what Potter had said? It's not like he mattered to her in the least. Quite on the contrary, actually. Lily tried to laugh at the thought, but it came out strangled, almost as if it pained her to do so. She frowned, and continued her contemplation. She didn't care about Potter...did she?

Suddenly she heard a soft knocking on her door. But instead of getting up and answering it, Lily willed whoever it was to go away and leave her alone. She just wanted to think, which became more and more impossible as the person continued to steadily pound on the door.

_Stop already_. She thought angrily. Lily closed her eyes and let her thoughts drown out the noise of flesh on wood. She could ignore it if she had to...

What she couldn't ignore was a voice that shouted, "Lily, if you don't open this bloody door _right this instant_, I'll knock it down and kick your sorry arse!" Lily turned away from the door, hoping that the people got the message that she wasn't in the mood for visitors.

They didn't.

The next second, the same voice shouted, "Alohomora!" and the door flung itself open. Lily turned around, wide-eyed and stared as Claire rushed into the room and nearly strangled Lily with a hug. "You okay?" She asked, finally breaking away and allowing Lily to breathe.

"I'm fine. Honestly. Claire, I ..." Lily noticed that Claire had not been the only onethat had entered the room. Sarah Elsberry was standing awkwardly in the corner, studying her feet. Lily looked at Claire, surprised. "Um, why's she here?" she asked quietly.

"Hey Sarah, c'mere." Claire said, sitting down on the edge of Lily's bed. Sarah walked forward and stopped a few feet from Lily's bed. Claire turned to Lily. "After you left, I screamed at Potter and Potter screamed back, so I slapped him for you. Then Sarah here," She indicated to Sarah, who blushed slightly, "told him off for being mean to you, and he yelled at her, so I grabbed her and we came up here. I figured you could use some company."

Lily smiled slightly at her friend's actions. "Thanks," she said to Claire, who smiled back and hugged her again. Lily then shifted and studied Sarah for a moment. Sarah was a small, shy girl who's total height was about five feet three inches. She had shoulder-lenght orangey colored hair and bright honey eyes. Her petite frame was accented by a slim waist and soft curves.

Lily snapped out of her reverie and spoke to Sarah. "Thanks for sticking up for me. It was really kind of you."

Sarah blushed. "Oh no, I ... He was being mean to you, and I know how it feels to be - to be picked on like that. I - it's no problem. It was nothing..."

"But it was." Lily said, sitting up. "I bet he dumped you, then, didn't he?"

"Well, no, not really, but - but I don't really wanna be his girlfriend anymore. He - doesn't really deserve one..." Sarah replied, seeming slightly sad yet determined.

Lily grinned. "Well he doesn't deserve you, that's for sure." Sarah blushed crimson and looked at the ground.

"That, in Lily-ish, means, "You're my friend now, whether you,like it or not'." Claire said unnessicarliy. Sarah looked up at Lily with a smile on her face. Lily smiled back. "Yay!" Claire squeeled, grabbing both Sarah and Lily and forcing them into a bone crushing hug. Lily and Sarah laughed as they struggled vainly to escape Claire's clutches. When they finally managed to do so, Claire backed away from the bed, stopping next to the door and crossing her arms. "Fine," she said, "Don't be my friends. I can manage fine by myself."

Lily snorted. "Oh, Claire, what on Earth would tyou do by yourself?"

Claire huffed. "Well, first I'd - " But what Claire would do first, the two girls would never know, because at that moment, the door to their dormitory flew open and hit Claire in the face with a loud _thud_. Alice Brown, a slim girl with dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, made a mad dash into the room, stopped, and looked around wildly. When her eyes found Sarah, she shreiked and flung herself at the bewildered girl.

"Oh, Sarah, Anabell Perita just told me the whole story! I'm sooooo sooooorry!" She cried, almost sobbing into Sarah's shoulder. "I should've been there! I could've cursed him or hexed him or jinxed him or _something_ for you! Why'd I pick today of all days to do that horrid Charms essay? I should've been here for you, my best friend, not in some bleeding library! Please, please, PLEASE forgive me!"

"Alice," Sarah said calmly. "Alice._ Alice_. Stop!" She somehow managed to pull her friend off her and sat her down on Lily's bed. "First of all, it's okay! I'm fine! You have nothing to be sorry about!"

"But Sarah, you can't mean that! I mean, _I'd_ be in denial too if _The_ James Potter dumped _me_!" Upon hearing the words 'The James Potter', Lily scowled.

"Alice! Would you listen to me! James Potter didn't dump me! I - I dumped him!" Sarah said, handing Alice a hankerchief. "And besides, he isn't _The_ anything. He's just a guy."

"Um, I hate to break up this whole rant-fest, but would somebody _please_ help me here?" Claire asked, somewhat thickly. Lily, Sarah, and Alice turned to see Claire covering her nose, which was bleeding perfusly. Lily stood, urged Claire to sit, and grabbed her a tissue.

Sarah turned back to Alice. "Look, Alice, when you were gone, Lily and James got into an arguement 'cuz Lily took points away from us because we were, um..."

"Try, snogging each other senseless." Claire supplied through her bleeding nose. Alice glared at her momentarily, then focused her attention back on Sarah, who was again blushing.

"Well, yes, we were, um, 'snogging each other senseless', I guess. Right, so Lily took off points, and James, er, I mean Potter, got really mad. He told Lily, 'Just because_ you_ can't get someone to snog you doesn't mean you have to take your problems out on others!', or something like that, and Lily got really upset and said,' Well, you wouldn't know if I snogged anyone recently, now would you?'. Then she ran up here."

Alice turned to Lily with huge eyes. "Oh my God, Lily, are you okay?"

Lily nodded and smiled. "I'm fine," she said. She turned to Sarah as an invitation to continue. Seeing that Lily wasn't going to say any more, Alice followed suit.

"Then Claire got really mad an screamed at Potter, who called Lily an ice queen who had no feelings." Lily's expression saddened, and she looked away. The other three girls noticed this and their expressions became softer. Sarah continued in a softer vioce. "So Claire slapped him right across the face, and I told him that what he'd done was really cruel. He got mad at me then, and told me off. So Claire and I came up here to comfort Lily."

"You're sure you're okay?" Alice asked. It was difficult to tell whether her question was directed at Sarah or at Lily.

Sarah sighed. "Yeah," she said. "Sure, I was dating the most popular guy in school, but who really wants to be popular anyways?" She asked, her eyes lingering on Lily, who nodded slightly.

"Lily, James Potter's a huge jerk. Don't get worked up over him, he's not worth it." Claire said, leaning over to squeeze Lily's shoulder.

"Claire's right, he's not." Alice said softly, as if scared of how Lily might react.

Lily smiled softly. "No, you're right." Her reply seemed to answer all questions asked.

Claire grinned. "Yay!" she said, pulling Alice, Sarah, and Lily into one large group hug. "This is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship!"**(A/N: Ok, I know it's cliched. Work with me here.)** The other girls laughed lightly and struggled in Claire's grasp. Claire let go and, looking at all of them, said, "Who needs that git, James Potter? We should all just move on." A chorus of 'Yeahs' and an 'I told you so' from Lily followed Claire's statement.

Lily stood up. "Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm gonna go and finish my Charms homework. I can't believe I put it off so long. See you soon!" And with that, she left the room.

Once the door closed and Lily's footsteps died away, Claire said, "Ok, raise your hand if you think Potter's got more feelings for Lily than he lets on."

Three hands shot into the air.

* * *

_Take it easy, take it slow_

_And don't let him go, don't let him go_

* * *

Lily was sitting in the library, pouring over her Charms book. The essay that she was currently working on wasn't due for another week, but what could she say? Lily didn't become the top student in her year by procrastinating. So far she had written all of the three foot essay requirement, ("Three feet? That's all?" she had said when they recieved their assignment.) but Lily wanted to make it really stand out, to really be her best work. So she got up and went to the Charms section of the library with every intention of finding some more detailed material. 

As she strod through the rows of books, she heard whisps of a conversation in the next aisle over.

" - You can't be so mean to her, Prongs." A voice said. _I know that voice, _Lily thought. She abandoned her quest for Charms material and instead positioned herself in the aisle so that she wouldn't be seen.

"Mean? I'm not the one being mean, Moony." This voice had to belong to Prongs, whoever that was. Lily leaned in closer.

"You know what I think?" Moony replied. "I think there's something more to this that you're not admitting." Lily suddenlyrecognized the voice of Moony. It was Remus Lupin. But who on Earth was he talking to?

"What? What do you mean, something more -"

"I think you know perfectly well what I mean, Prongs. And if you're trying to win Lily's heart, that's not the way to do it." _Wait a second_, Lily thought, her eyes widdening, _I think they're talking about **me**! _Lily squinted through the shelved books, trying to find out exactly who was trying to win her heart. It looked to her like James Potter was wrong. Someone apparently _did_ want to snog her. But who?

"Eavesdropping, are we?" a cold voice said from behind her. Lily turned, her eyes widdened in surprise. Standing before her was Severus Snape, a greasy boy with dirty hair and a hooked nose. He leered at Lily for a moment, as if trying to find a suitable insult.

"Go away, Snape." Lily spat. She did not care much for Sanpe, not after an incedent in their fifth year.

Snape ignored her. "And who exactly is the Mudblood bitch spying on?" He asked loudly, his words making her wince. If she had not been so preoccupied, Lily would have realized that the voices behind her had stopped, as if they too were listening to Snape's harsh words.

"I'm not 'spying' on anyone. And besides, it's none of your business what I choose to do with my time." Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest. Snape pushed pasther and shifted the books on the shelf aside so that he could see properly. The people speaking seemed to have left, however, and he turned back with his face etched with disappointment. "It seems that you are less capable of keeping an audience than I thought." He moved closer to Lily, who back into another shelf of books. "Well then, I'll just have to - "

"Get away from her, _Snivellus_." a voice said. Lily and Snape both turned quickly to see who was speaking.

It was James. He was pointing his wand directly at Snape's face. Behind him a ways was Remus, whom was also holding his wand, only his wasn't raised. Lily looked between James and Snape, whose faces were both ectched with hatred. James grabbed Sanpe by the neck of his robes and pulled him forcefully away from Lily. "I said, get away from her."

Snape jerked out of his grasp, took out his wand, and pointed it straight at James.

Under normal circumstances, Lily would have let the two boys fight. After all, she did rather dislike both of them. Actually, she was having a hard time deciding whom she hated more at the moment. But these were not normal circumstances. First of all, Lily was Head Girl. If someone caught them fightingand saw Lily just standing there, she'd be in danger of losing her badge. And second, she didn't really like the idea of two boys fighting over her. It was too messy.

So, deciding what to do, Lily bravely placed a hand on both boys' chest and pushed them apart, moving to stand in between them.This proved difficult, seeing as both of these boys weighted a lot more than she did. She glared between the two of them and snarled, "You are a prefect and the Head Boy! Could you _please_ set a better example for the other students?"

James looked outraged at her words. "You didn't seem ti care about setting a good example when I was pulling tis git off you!"He hissed indignantly.

Lily sighed angrily. "Just stop! You shouldn't be fighting in the first place!"

"Why?" James asked, his eyes narrowed. "Because Snape doesn't deserve it?"

"No," Lily replied, getting more and more impatient at the moment. "because fighting is wrong! It doesn't solve anything!"

Snape, whom was currently forgotten, slid past the enraged Lily and James and quickly left the library. Remus took off after him, leaving Lily and James to have a heated argument, their voiced rising with every word they said.

"Why _doesn't_ fighting solve anything?" James asked stubbornly.

"Because fighting only hurts people, and right now, I don't really want you or Snape getting hurt!"

"Yeah right. You don't give a damn about me at all. So why don't you stop trying to make yourself into some kind of tragic hero?"

"I'm _not_! How _dare_ you come in here and accuse me of things I've never done? You don't even _know_ anything about me!"

"Well, maybe that's 'cuz you won't let me!" James yelled back. "Maybe the reason I don't know you is because you won't let me get to know you.You wouldn't let me know anything about you if I tried!"

Lily stood there, stock still. Did James Potter actually want get to know her? Why?

James seemed to realize that he said to much, becuase he face flushed. He and Lily stood there staring at each other, both taking deep breaths, both trying to figure out exactly what had just happened.

"POTTER! EVANS!"a loud screach rang out behind them, making them jump. The two turned and found themselves face to face with a very angry Madam Prince. "What on Earth do you thin kyou're doing? Shouting, in a library! And you two, being Head Girl and Head Boy! I demand that you leave right this instant!"

Lily grabbed her Charms things and she and James fled the Lilbrary. When they finally reahed the portrait hole, Lily turned to James and asked, "You wanna know why I don't want you to get to know me?" James just looked at her in an almost shocked expression. "It's because everything I would tell you would go right over your head, and you'd continue to be exactly the same. So if you _do_ want to get to know me, as you claim, then I suggest that you _grow up_." And with that Lily climbed through the entrance and dissappeared up the girl's staircase, leaving a very confused James behind.

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Ooh, and the plot thickens... 

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	3. Waiting

A/N: -Sighs- This chapter took really long to post. I wrote the entire thing by the pool at Niagra Falls, and this idiot boy kept doing cannon balls and splashing me. He was a hillbilly, literally. -Snarls at stupid boy- Oh well, sorry it took me so long to update. I went on a lot of vacations this year. It won't happen again. -Bows-

I was checking out the stats of this story, and I found that 232 people veiw this fic. Sowhy do I only have 13 reviews? Seriously people,you could take 3.5 seconds and write, "You and your fic suck" for all I care, just review! Thanks to the people who DID review: Anjali, Talia,Zemmy, babi-gurl8907, Daisy Pixie, xLynex, ashlynn, and Shattered Serenity. You guys are so awesome!

So, without further ado, here's chapter 3!

Disclaimer: Ok, raise your hand if you actually think that I own HP or Don't Let Him Go. -Crickets chirp- Didn't think so.

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_He makes you so angry, he makes you so sore_

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Several weeks had passed since James Potter had declared his desire to know more about Lily. The two had done everything in their power to avoid each other. They continued on like this through Thanksgiving and well into December. They both knew, however, that they would someday have to confront what was said, and the more Lily thought about it, the more she dreaded it.

Lily was in a state of utter confusion. She absolutely despised not knowing what to do or what was about to happen, yet she found herself in that very place. She seemed more prone to anger and klutziness, which both worried and confused her friends. Lily had told Claire, Alice and Sarah all about Remus' odd conversation with 'Prongs', the attack of Snape, and her exchange with Potter, yet none of them seemed to understand what was bothering Lily so much.

"It's not odd for a guy to want to know more about a girl," Claire had said_. True_, Lily thought_, but is it normal for your enemy to suddenly crave information about you_? Something about this whole situation just didn't make sense, and the mystery of it all was causing Lily to lose focus.

In fact, she had been having a series of horrid days which either involved her forgetting something of utmost importance or ending up in the hospital wing. And when Lily awoke from a restless sleep, promptly fell over the side of her four poster bed and landed spread eagle on the cold, hard floor, she knew that today was going to be another one of those days.

The loud _thud_ of Lily toppling onto the floor woke Claire, Alice and Sarah up instantly.

"Don't kill me!" Alice screamed, jumping three feet in the air. Claire and Sarah stared at her. "Sorry, I had a nightmare." She said in a small voice.

"Well, your _lives_ are gonna be one enormous nightmare if someone doesn't help me here!" Lily said irritably.

"Jeez, someone's sure not a morning person," Claire muttered under her breath as she pulled Lily to her feet.

"I heard that," Lily replied, straitening out her nightgown. Claire rolled her eyes hugely. "Don't you _dare_ roll your eyes at me, Claire Dubois!" Lily exclaimed, her annoyance written all over her face. When Claire simply smirked, Lily did the only logical thing she could think of. She whacked Claire with her pillow.

"Hey!" Claire screeched indignantly, feathers hanging from her mussed curls. "Oh, you'll pay for that one," she said, pulling her pillow off her bed. She made to hit Lily back, but Alice stepped between the two and said, "Girls? We're seventeen - _adults_. Don't you think having a pillow fight is _slightly_ immature?"

Lily and Claire stared at Alice in disbelief, then looked at each other. Two identically devious smiles erupted on their faces, and they began pelting a very surprised Alice with pillows. Soon Sarah joined into the Attack Alice Fest.

"Sarah!" Alice shrieked as Sarah's pillow collided with her face, sending feathers everywhere.

"Sorry, Alice, but I'm not seventeen 'til May." Sarah replied slyly.

Alice sighed heavily. "Right." She said. Then, quite suddenly, she dived toward her bed, snatched up her pillow, and joined into the fray.

"Hey Alice," Claire said, attempting to fight off Lily. "I thought you said we were too old for pillow fights."

Alice smiled. "I changed my mind." She said. "You're _never_ too old for pillow fights."

The girls continued their battle, laughing and screaming all the way. It was a long time before Claire's alarm clock went off, jolting the girls back into reality.

Claire abandoned to others and went to turn the clock off. But when she saw the time, she stopped dead. "Bloody hell," She said weakly, turning to face the others. "It's 9:33. Breakfast ends at-"

"9:20." Lily finished for her. "And we have Transfigurations at 9:50."

All four girls looked at each other for a moment before launching themselves into the bathroom. After ten minutes, each girl was miraculously washed, dressed, and ready to go.

"I can't _believe_ we missed breakfast," Alice moaned, her stomach growling. She and the others hurried out the door and onto the staircase.

"Good thing McGonagal's room's close, or we'd never make it." Sarah said.

Lily looked over at her friends. Each of them seemed presentable, except -

" Alice, you've got a feather in your hair," Lily said, reaching over to pull it out. Unfortunately, Lily's chronic klutziness chose this exact moment to kick in. She lost her balance and fell backwards down the stairway.

"LILY!" Claire Alice and Sarah all shrieked as they stood frozen to their steps.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Lily screamed as she made her quick decent. _Great_, she thought._ Not only will I be late for Transfigurations, but my bum'll hurt and I'll be laughed out of the common room...Funny, I don't remember the staircase being so long before..._

Lily closed her eyes and braced herself for impact. She winced as she landed, only the thing she landed on wasn't the floor.

It was a person. They had caught her. _Thank God_, Lily thought, extremely grateful for her luck. She sighed in relief. "Thank you so mu -"She looked up and found herself staring into magnificent hazel eyes, slightly concealed by round wire-rimmed glasses.

James Potter had caught her.

Lily sat there, frozen in his lap, very aware of his hand on her mid-back and his arm under her knees. It appeared that both of them had been petrified there, staring into each other's eyes, shocked.

Lily noticed that James' breath was coming out in pants, as if he'd been running. She realized suddenly that this was not a random act, as if he'd just happened to be there to catch her. No, he had actually _meant_ to catch her, and by the looks of it, he'd ran to get there.

The sound of someone clearing their throat pierced the silence that seemed to be present whenever Lily and James interacted with each other. Lily blinked for the first time in what seemed like years and looked up to find the source of the noise. Her eyes landed on Remus Lupin, who had his hand out stretched. Lily placed her hand in his, and he pulled her to her feet. "Thanks..." she said, a small smile on her face. Internally, she was grateful to break contact with James, as his presence had caused an odd feeling in her stomach.

Once Lily was stable, she looked back at the girls' staircase and saw Claire, Alice and Sarah, who were each staring wide-eyed between Lily and James as if watching a highly interesting tennis match. They seemed to be just as frozen as she had been moments before.

Lily heard, or rather, felt James rise behind her. It was then that she noticed that her bag had fallen off her shoulder during her fall. She turned and located it on a couch, whose arm happened to be directly behind James. Lily made to go around him, but just as she was about to take a step, a foot flew out and tripped her.

Lily toppled into an unexpecting James, who fell backwards over the couch's arm. The two landed with Lily on top of James, her hands on his chest and his arms encircling her waist. Once again, they found themselves staring into each other's eyes.

Lily's mind was racing. _Ohhhh, shit, I'm on top of Potter! _Lily flushed. _Everyone's gonna think I like him or something, like one of those ditzy Hufflepuffs! This** cannot** be happening. _She stared as James' eyes clouded over, but with what she couldn't tell. _What on earth -_

Lily snapped back into focus and quickly detangled herself from James. She turned, her blazing emerald eyes scanning the common room to find the asshole that tripped her. They landed on Sirius Black, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet and whistling in a would-be innocent way.

"Black!" Lily hissed malevolently. "You have until the count of five before I rip you to shreds!"

"Oh, come on, Evans, I was only trying to help -"

"One..."

"Really, _someone_ had to do it -"

"Two..."

"You could cut the tension with a knife!"

"Three..."

"The _sexual_ tension, I mean."

Lily's eyes narrowed to mere slits of disgust. "Four..."

"You know, it'd be a waste to kill me. There aren't many guys this handsome around..."

"FIVE!" And, leaving her bag behind, Lily charged after Sirius, who yelped and ran out the portrait hole as fast as he could.

Claire, Alice and Sarah each seemed to regain their senses. "Think Lily'll actually kill him?" Sarah asked Claire as the noise level in the common room returned to its usual height.

"Well, that depends on your definition of 'kill'. She won't cut off his head or anything, but she may cut off something else." Claire replied. Sarah blushed.

"If Lily did cut, er, _that_ off, it'd sure kill Sirius's chances of ever getting a girlfriend again." Alice said. She looked down at her watch and gasped loudly. "We were supposed to be in Transfigurations four minutes ago!"

"What?" Sarah asked, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline.

"Dammit!" Claire exclaimed. She grabbed Lily's bag and the three ran out of the common room in sheer panic.

* * *

_The wait may be worth it, but how can you wait anymore_

_When you're wondering what you're waiting for _

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"I can't _believe_ McGonagal didn't give us detention!" Claire said excitedly for about the thirtieth time as the girls walked through the corridors. Transfigurations had just ended, and Lily had miraculously been on time. The others didn't fair so well, but their lack of punishment truly was cause for celebration.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like any of us have ever been late before. I mean, seriously, how fair would it be if she gave you detention for being five minutes late when she didn't give Potter detention for being nine?"

There was a second's pause before Sarah said, "You seem to be seeing a lot of James Potter lately..."

Lily stopped dead. "And what's _that _supposed to mean?" She asked, with a hint of iciness in her voice.

"Well, first you get into this huge fight with him that leaves you _crying in bed_," Claire said in place of Sarah. She had a feeling that Sarah couldn't take Lily's glare. "Then Snape practically forces himself on you, and who should save you, but Potter. Then you get into _another_ fight with him 'cuz he wants to get to know you. And _then_ you fall down a flight of stairs, and who should catch you at the bottom, but Potter. And now you're comparing our situation to his. Not to mention the fact that he asked you out, er, how many times was it, Alice?" Claire turned to Alice. "Three hundred forty seven times?" Alice nodded and Claire turned back to Lily. "Three hundred forty seven times in fifth year."

Lily stared momentarily at Alice. "_You kept count_?" she asked. Alice nodded meekly. Lily frowned and turned back to Claire. "He wasn't being serious; he was making fun of me. That's why he stopped after fifth year. And as for all those other things, they were just coincidences! It's not like they meant anything!"

"Oh yeah? So then why was he staring at you all through Transfigurations, then?" Sarah asked suddenly. She looked almost angry.

"He - wait, what? How would you know? You were sitting with us! Unless...you weren't staring _back _at him, were you?" Lily asked, confused.

"Maggie Hawthorne from Hufflepuff was sitting at the table next to his. She said that she kept trying to get him to look at her, but he kept staring at you!" Sarah answered, ignoring Lily's last question. "She also said she was surprised you head didn't catch on fire, 'cuz his eyes were burning holes right through the back of your head."

Lily frowned and flushed slightly. The truth was, she _had _felt James' eyes on her, though she had tried her hardest to pretend she didn't. Lily tried to focus on the conversation at hand, but her thoughts kept drifting to the events that had taken place earlier in the common room. _I can't help but think there's something different about him, almost like he's...like he's changed or something. And why'd he catch me in the first place? He hates me...right?_

Lily's reverie was broken by two boys who stepped in the four girls' path. One of them, a tall, well built blonde, leaned down and kissed Claire lightly on the lips.

"Guys, this is Shawn. He's in Ravenclaw." Claire said, sliding her hand into his. Shawn smiled at the others in greeting, then directed his attention back to Claire.

"Wanna go with me to Hogsmeade on the next trip?" He asked.

"What, you mean the one tomorrow?" Claire questioned him. Shawn looked guiltily back at her. Claire smiled and punched him lightly on the arm. "Of course," She then turned to the other, previously forgotten boy. "Who's this?" she asked.

"Oh, that's -"

"I'm Alec Diggory, also in Ravenclaw." the boy named Alec replied.

"Are you related to Amos Diggory?" Alice asked politely.

"Yup, he's my older brother, also known as the biggest git in the world." Alec replied. Lily caught herself before saying,_ I know a git bigger than your brother_.

"So, Lily," Alec turned his attention onto the redhead, whose brain jolted into focus. "D'you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Lily paused to consider her answer. Sure, Alec was handsome with his dark brown eyes and matching hair, but she wasn't really interested in him. "I'm sorry, but I'm not really looking for a relationship right now. Thanks though," She replied.

Alec shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Shawn kissed Claire again and said, "See you tomorrow, then." And with that, the two left.

Once they were out of earshot, Claire rounded on Lily. "What was that, Lily? Alec's probably a great guy, and you just blew him off!"

"Like I said," Lily replied calmly. "I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now. And besides, Christmas holiday starts the day after the Hogsmeade trip, so there's really no point."

"Oh yeah," Sarah said. "You're staying here over the holidays, aren't you?" Lily nodded.

"What was it? Your parents won...?" Alice asked.

"A cruise," Lily replied. "It only for two, though, so it's either go home and deal with Petunia, or stay here. Personally, I'd choose the latter."

Claire shook her head, her curls bouncing. "I feel sorta bad leaving you in the dorm alone." She said.

"Don't, I'm gonna stay in the Head dorms. They're empty, so I should be fine." Lily reassured her.

By now, the girls had reached the common room. They entered through the portrait hole and dropped into their favorite chairs.

"So why does your sister hate you so much?" Alice asked Lily, pulling her bag off her shoulder.

Lily laughed bitterly. "Because I'm a witch. She hates everything abnormal, and being able to do magic is her definition of the word."

"Ah, don't let it get to you, Lils." Claire said, slinging her arm over Lily's shoulder. "Petunia's a bloody bitch who's jealous of her younger sister's talents and looks."

"Thanks, Claire," Lily said, hugging her friend. Then, longing to change the subject, Lily turned to Alice and Sarah. "So, are you two going to Hogsmeade with anyone?"

"Well, I'm going with Frank Longbottom." Alice said, smiling and blushing slightly.

"She's had a crush on him for _years_." Sarah added, earning a glare from Alice. "But he seems to've also, 'cuz he asked her about two weeks ago."

"And you never told us?" Claire asked accusingly. Alice looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Ooh, you guys'll make a cute couple." Lily said, sparing Alice from Claire death glare. Alice smiled gratefully. "Are you going with anyone, Sarah?" Lily asked.

"No. I figure I'll need some extra time to pack and hand out gifts. Plus, I need to get a head start on the homework. I guess I really don't have time for a boyfriend now." Sarah admitted. "Not since Potter, at least."

Claire turned to Lily, her anger at Alice forgotten. "See? Alice and I both have dates and Sarah has a valid excuse _not _to have one. But you have neither."

Lily shrugged. "I guess I'm just...waiting for something."

"But what?" Alice asked.

Lily contemplated her answer. _What **am** I waiting for,_ she wondered. "I guess I'm waiting just waiting for something - some_one_ - out of the ordinary. Like, a guy I can trust not to like me just for...the way I look." She answered, slightly uncomfortably. "Saying that I'm waiting for 'The One' is a bit cliché, but that's kinda what I'm doing. I don't really feel like jumping in head first and wasting my time on a relationship that's gonna mean nothing in the end. Like with Alec, when I look at him, I feel nothing. He's just another guy. I want to go out with a guy who makes me feel warm inside, a guy that I just...like."

"So basically, you want a guy who loves you for who you are that you can love back?" Claire asked.

Lily thought for a moment. "Yes," she said at last.

"Well, I think we know a guy who just might be perfect for you." Claire said, sharing a sly look with Sarah and Alice.

"What?" Lily asked, surprised. "Who?"

The other three looked at each other. "Well, time to go pack!" Claire exclaimed, standing and walking quickly toward the girls' staircase.

"Yup, loads to do," Alice said, following Claire.

"See ya later!" Sarah called from halfway up the stairwell.

Lily, regaining her senses, stood and yelled, "Hey! Get your arses back her and tell me who!" And with that, she disappeared up the staircase.

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-Sighs- I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. Oh well.

Ok, I have a question for all of you. If you get it right, I'll dedicate my nxt chapter to you. So here it is:

When the snow melts, what does it become?

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	4. Family Matters

A/N: Hi everyone! Chapter four is finally done! Yay!

...Remember how I asked about the lenght of the chapters earlier? Yeah, well I realized about half way through that this wasn't gonna be short like I thought - actually, it's the longest chapter yet. Opps.

Thanks to Zemmy, Angali, dakf jfjn flkjflask fdsfj (Nice name, can you actually pronounce it?), Daisy Pixie, and Shattered Serenity for review! As for the other 59 of you who read the chapter but didn't review, -Sighs- thanks for reading, but seriously, what's the point of reading if you're not gonna review? I can only change things you don't like if you _tell me to_.

Shattered Serenity: You really should get an email address, you know. It's ok, I'm glad you reviewed anyway. Have fun on your vacation! You're brother really likes cookies, I'm guessing. Don't hit me! ...May I have my cookie now?

Ok, so on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: You know, at the end of the world, it won't matter that I'm not JKR and that I ownnone of her characters. It really won't.

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_But don't let him go_

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The seventh year girls' dorm was a wreck. Clothes were thrown hap-hazardly into massive piles next to over-flowing trunks. Books and parchment were spewn all over the once-visible floor. The truth was obvious - It was the last day of school before winter holiday.

Lily tromped through the filth in attempts to find her favorite book. It was a muggle romance, the mushy and totally unrealistic kind that seemed to always hold Lily's interest for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was the adventure, or the fact that the girl always got her man. To Lily, however, it seemed to be that the story focused around the type of love that she dreamed of: true and everlasting.

At last, Lily found her book in a heap of socks near the bathroom door. She didn't bother to wonder how it had gotten there; her friends just threw random things into piles. Her book had probably just been swept off her nightstand and into the pile by some odd circumstance.

Lily walked back towards her four-poster, avoiding a large mound of Claire's clothes at the foot of her bed. She reclined and bent her knees up. Lily turned her book over to the cover. Her old copy of _Masquerade _was worn and faded, yet she loved it so much that she had read it fifteen times over the course of two years. It told the story of love that blossomed from hate between Madeline, a young and beautiful French girl, and Oliver, her conniving yet devilishly handsome British enemy. Lily simply loved the story, with its romantic ideas and sarcastic humor.

Lily sighed as she settled into her story. She read in peace for about an hour before the dorm door was practically knocked off its hinges by a very ecstatic Claire.

"Hey, Lils," She said breathlessly, a pink tinge in her cheeks. Claire rushed to Lily's bed a jumped on, sitting at Lily's feet.

"I'm guessing you date went well, then." Lily said, placing her book in her nightstand's drawer. "And get your shoes off my bed."

Claire ignored her and smiled. "Mmm-hmm." She said. "We went to Three Broomsticks and bumped into Alice and Frank. So we all ate lunch together, then me and Shawn left and went window shopping. We found this _gorgeous _necklace, and Shawn actually bought it for me! He said it was a Christmas present. It's so beautiful, look!" Claire took off her coat and pulled a thin sliver chain out from under her shirt. A small, teardrop-shaped sapphire pendant of the deepest blue hung off of it. It truly was gorgeous.

"Wow," Lily breathed. "It _is_ beautiful. And it matches your eyes."

Claire grinned. "That's what Shawn said, too." She sighed happily. "Isn't he just wonderful?"

"So you really like him, then?" Lily asked, smiling. She knew that Claire had never had a boyfriend for more than three months, and that she'd also never really cared that much for any of them. This was definitely a first.

Claire laughed. "I feel so happy around him. I can't explain it, but...yeah." Claire's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh no, I sound like those girls in the books you read. The blubbering idiots who chase after guys. Am I like that?" Claire asked frantically.

"No," Lily said, amused. "And if you were, don't you think I'd've told you before? After all those times you knocked my books!"

"It's not _my_ fault you spend all your time reading fantasy books." Claire said, shrugging. She then looked around. "Hey, where's Sarah?"

"She's in the library, finishing up that essay Slughorn assigned."

"Why aren't you there, then?" Claire asked. "You _always_ like to finish your homework early..."

"Yup, and that's why I finished it already." Lily replied, smirking slightly.

Claire sighed heavily. "Why you do your assignments three weeks before they're due, I'll never know."

Lily laughed a little. She didn't know why, but being seen as the responsible one of the group made her laugh. Lily Evans, responsible? 'Duh', one might say, but to Lily, that wasn't really the case.

"Hey, have you moved all your stuff to the Head dorms yet?" Claire asked Lily.

"No," Lily replied. "I've barely started. It's sorta depressing, being the only one of us staying."

"I offered to stay, and you told me no!" Claire exclaimed.

Lily shook her head. "It's not right for you to stay here and not see your family on Christmas. I told Alice and Sarah exactly the same thing."

"I know, but still..." Claire said sadly. "I'm supposed to be your best friend, and I'm leaving you here all alone."

"Claire, it's_ fine_. Relax." Lily said, putting her hands on Claire's shoulders. "I'll be okay by myself. Really. I was just sorta...venting before."

"Okay, if you're sure..." Claire said skeptically.

"I'm sure. But if you feel so bad about it, you can help me take all my stuff up to the Head dorms."

Claire seemed excited by this idea. "Sure, I've always wondered what they looked like, ever since -"

"Ever since you dated the Head Boy in our fifth year and he mentioned them, I know." Lily interrupted, sliding off her bed and grabbing her trunk.

Claire laughed. "You know me too well, Lils." She said, picking a bag up off the floor. "Is this all you're taking?"

"Yup," Lily said, bewitching her trunk to hover above the ground.

Claire did the same to the bag she was holding. "Ready?" she asked.

Lily nodded. "Let's go."

The two walked down the stairs and out the portrait hole. After a few minutes, they stopped at a portrait of two students, presumably the first Head Boy and Girl.The girl looked at them for a moment."Password?" She finally asked.

"Morphious." Lily said, and the portrait swung open to reveal a door with no handle. Lily pulled out her wand and tapped each of the four corners on the door, then tapped the middle four times. A spun-glass handle appeared and Lily turned it, revealing the Heads' common room.

The room was large and open, with crimson and gold decorating the walls. In the center of the room, a red couch and two gold oversized chairs created an almost full square around a large fireplace, where flames were cracking merrily. All in all, the room very much resembled the Gryffindor common room, only the Head's room seemed nicer and fancier.

"Wow," Claire said. "This is _nice_."

"Mmm-hmm." Lily answered. "Come on, my room's over here." Lily led Claire to one of two handleless deep cherry doors and placed her hands on it. "Beauty masks the soul." She whispered. Another spun-glass handle appeared and Lily turned and opened it.

Claire gasped. "Oh my..."

'Oh my', just about summed up the Head Girl's room. It was a large, octagon-shaped room with pale green walls. The many windows were covered by white silk curtains that reached down to the dark hardwood floor. There was a white wood desk, beauru, and dresser, each along their own walls. A gorgeous four-poster bed with white, almost transparent curtains stood opposite the door. Shadow boxes with magically preserved flowers were hung in various spots along the walls, as were non-moving pictures of Lily's family and moving pictures of her friends. The high ceiling was very similar to the one in the Great Hall - it was enchanted to mask the sky above. The room was very, very beautiful.

"This is awesome!" Claire exclaimed, flopping down on the bed. "It's huge! God, and I thought you'd be _lonely_ up here. It's like a castle!"

"That would be because we're _in_ a castle." Lily replied, flicking her wrist and causing her trunk to hit the floor. "It is pretty though, isn't it?"

"Hell yeah!" Claire responded, taking in the beauty of the room. She noticed two other doors, which she assumed were a closet. "Where do those lead to? A closet?"

Lily shook her head. "The one on the right leads to the Heads' study, which the Head Girl and Boy share, and the other leads to my bathroom."she said.

"You're sure you don't want me to stay with you? 'Cuz this room is way better than the one at my Grandma's..."

"I'm sure." Lily replied. "C'mon. I wanna show you the balcony."

"You have a balcony?" Claire asked, leaping off the bed.

"Yeah, off of the common room. And there's a secret passage way that leads to somewhere near McGonagal's room." Lily answered, opening the door that lead back to the common room.

Claire made to follow her, but Lily had stopped in the doorway. "What?" Claire asked, but it only took her two seconds to figure it out. The common room was no longer empty as it had been five minutes ago. Instead, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were occupying it. And unfortunately for Lily, Sirius had spotted her.

"Oy, Evans! You staying here over the holidays?" He yelled, drawing all attention to the redhead, who was currently trying to hide behind her half-opened door.

Lily glared at Sirius. "And what if I am? It's really none of your business, Black." She replied, trying hard not to flush as she felt James's eyes on her. She remembered all too well the incident in the common room yesterday. But wait, what did she care if Potter was staring at her? She mentally slapped herself and put on a defiant look.

"I was just wondering, 'cuz Prongs here is staying too. Maybe you could keep him company." He said, waggling his eyebrows.

Lily froze. _Potter is staying here over the holidays? What the hell? Doesn't he have other people he can annoy? God, if I ever get a hold of his parents... _Lily thought, her temper raging. But suddenly she stopped wishing death upon the Potter's and realized something. _Prongs? But...but Prongs was the guy who...who... _Lily froze. "Holy shit," She whispered.

Claire looked at her for a second before quietly asking, "Lily, are you okay?"

Lily didn't answer. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "Let's get back to the dormitory. Alice and Sarah may be back, and we don't want to keep them waiting."

Claire stared at Lily, who gave her a look that said, 'I'll tell you when we get back.' Claire hesitated before saying, "Yeah, you're right. We should get going."

Lily smiled slightly and turned toward Remus. "It was nice seeing you again, Remus." She said cheerily. And with that, Claire and Lily walked quickly from the Heads' dorm.

"What the bloody hell was going on in there?" Claire asked as the two skidded to a halt outside the Gryffindor common room.

Lily sighed. "I just...couldn't believe that Potter's staying over the holiday. That's all."

Claire eyed her skeptically. "Are you _sure_ that's all that made you want to leave so badly?" She asked, suspicion written all over her pretty face.

"Yes, Claire, that's all. Sheesh, you really don't trust me, do you?" Lily asked, knowing it would get Claire off her case. Truthfully, she didn't know why she wasn't telling Claire about her realization. Claire knew about the discussion in the library, but apparently she hadn't been paying attention to Sirius when he spilled the beans about Prongs. Lily felt that it was something she wanted to keep quiet. At the moment, she really didn't want anyone to know that there was a possibility that James- well, that he liked her.

Claire crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that you suddenly seemed to freeze back there. After the information had sunk in."

"That's just because I realized that I'd be spending the holidays in the same dorm as Potter when I thought that I'd be spending it happily alone." Lily said, climbing through the portrait hole.

"If you say so," Claire replied, following Lily up to their dorm. She was about to open the door when it swung open and a sobbing Alice flung herself at the two of them.

"Oh God, what happened?" Lily asked, her previous thoughts forgotten.

"Let _her_ tell you," a smiling Sarah responded. Lily and Claire looked down at Alice and realized that she was laughing through her tears.

"Frank...he...HE KISSED ME!" Alice shrieked, detangling herself from a very startled Lily and Claire. She jumped up and leapt around the extremely cluttered room.

Sarah dodged the pile of books that fell after Alice twirled off them and stood beside Claire and Lily. "She hasn't been this happy in years." She said quietly, as the three watched Alice land a back flip off her bed. "Seriously, I think the girl's in love."

"How romantic." Lily said, smiling. She was really happy for Alice. "She deserves to have someone to love."

"It's just like in you books, Lils." Claire declared, picking up a set of robes on the floor. They turned out to be Lily's, the Head Girl badge sparkling gold against the black of the fabric. Claire inhaled quickly. "You'll never guess who Lily's rooming with over the holidays." She said to Sarah.

"Hmm, let me think..." Sarah said in a way that told everyone that she already knew.

Lily rolled her eyes. It looked like she'd have to relive her annoyance once again.

* * *

_Just give him a chance to grow_

* * *

Holiday break seemed to fly by for Lily, who woke up on Christmas morning wondering why there was a pile ofboxes on her floor. It had taken her a split second to realize what day it was. When she did, she dived off her bed and started unwrapping. She carefully undid the tape on each gift, trying hard not to ripe the lovely paper. 

After about an hour, she had unwrapped a charm bracelet from Claire, a new romance novel from Sarah, a stationary set from Alice, a bag full of Honeyduke's sweets from Remus, and her favorite, a transparent glass cube with a tiny lily inside, along with the words _My Lovely Daughter_, from her parents. Lily smiled as she held it in her hands, tears pricking her eyes. It had been so long since she'd seen her parents, and she missed them very much. What she wouldn't give to be with them now, instead of in the Heads' dorms, opening her Christmas presents alone.

Lily placed the glass cube on her nightstand and then lifted the rest of her gifts onto her bed. She then took a shower and got dressed in a green t-shirt and khaki pants, looking forward to breakfast. As she combed her hair, she thought of the pancakes she'd probably have and how good they were. _They've got nothing on Dad's, though_, she thought, somewhat miserably. She pulled her long hair up into a ponytail and checked her appearance in the mirror. She rubbed her eyes, hiding the fact that she had almost been crying. After all, Lily Evans never cried in front of people other than her family and friends.

She walked through the common room quietly, trying to avoid unwanted attention. But luckily for her, it seemed that James was still in his room, probably unwrapping a truckload of gifts.

Lily exited the Heads' dorms and walked through the corridors, her steps echoing of the hallways' empty walls. As she neared the Great Hall, Lily thought of all the people that would be there, eating happily with their friends and wishing each other a happy Christmas. How depressing it would be to eat alone...

In a quick decision, Lily turned and headed upstairs towards thekitchens, where she could eat in peace. She oftenwondered if the house elves that worked there were happy, but their smiling faces and cheery demeanor told her that they were.

Filled up with adelicious breakfast of pancakes and tea, Lily left the kitchens and headed back to her dormitory. Once there, she looked out onto the snow-covered grounds and decided thatthis was a perfect time to talk a walk. She grabbed her coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, and set out. While on her walk, Lilymarveled at the beauty of Hogwarts andhow, although she truly wanted to be with her family, she could never really feel at home anywhere but here.

_It's so beautiful here in winter,_ Lily thought stopping and standing on a fresh patch of snow. She suddenly fell to the ground, landed, and made a snow angel, just like she had when she was a little kid. Lily sighed in content as she lay there in the snow, adoring every minute of the time she spent there. She stood and admired her angel, then walked around and drew a halo above its head. _There,_ she thought, _you're free. Now go fly._

After spending almost all day outdoors admiring the grounds, Lily stomach began to protestfor its lack of food. _Iprobably shouldn't've missedafternoon tea_, she thought, checking her watch. It was 5:23._Almost time for dinner - I'd better head in._

Lily walked back inside the castle, its warmth hugging her body, bringing it back to its normal temperature. She quickly went toher dorm and shed her winter clothes.Checking her watch again, Lily decided to go to dinner a little early.She entered the Great Hall, eagerly anticipating the Christmas feast. She found her usual spot along the Gryffindor table and sat down, watching as others filled in. There didn't seem to be many students still at school, and the flow of students at the door stopped abruptly. Lily felt the table weight shift and turned her head to see who else was here. It wasJames, of course, who looked up just as Lily looked at him. The two found themselves once again staring into each other'seyes. Lily, realizing what she was doing, blinked and looked away. She didn'tneed him to thinkshe liked him too.

A screech sounded through the Great Hall, and Lily saw a large owl soar in. _That's odd, mail only comes at breakfast..._ she thought, surprised. She was even more surprised,however, when the owl dropped its load before her. Lily watched itflyaway, then turned her attention onto the cream-colored envelope sitting before her.

Feeling everyone's eyes oneher, Lily slit it open and read the short message. She stood abruptly, her eyes still glued on the letter. They filled with tears as she ran from theGreat Hall, avoiding everyone's eyes as she turnedand continued on.

No one in the Great Hall moved, their eyes still lingering on thedoor. Finally, James stood up and ran out after her. Everyone watched as he left the Hall, heading in the same direction thatLily had, wondering what this could mean.

* * *

I'm sorry, I had to do it. -Sighs- And the happiness ends...for now at least.

Remember my question about snow? Well, the answer has nothing to do with water, slush,evaporation, or any combination of the three. Really.The question should have been: What comes after snow? But that's not how it's worded. Keepguessing! (Or ask a friend who like Fruits Basket. Either way...)

Well, please review!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	5. Changing

A/N: I'd like to thank Feye and None Ofyabeezwax(K) for correctly answering my question! When the snow melts, what does it become? The answer is spring! Because no matter how cold or how much snow there is, spring will always come and melt it away! (Think of it as a person. If someone's cold, a person, or spring, can melt the coldness away. It's cool to think about.) This is gonna come up in latter chapters, so remember it!

So basically, I'm back in school. Fun. Yeah, right. Oh well. I got this chapter up, and that's all that matters!

Thanks to Shattered Serenity, lsejrcfldfk., Angali, wounded-angel, Akt5us, angelofmynightmare, ambwardo, and Feye for reviewing. I love you all! -Hugs reviewers. Reviewers run away scared out of their wits-

Feye: Just so's you know, I normally reply to my reviewers in email, but since yours isn't listed, I'll just reply here. ...Yeah, I love song fics, and they're actually pretty easy to write, which is why I'm doing one. Yeah, well, I try. -Blushes-I've always loved the nick names in the books, so I figured I'd make a few of my own. Glad you like 'em. ...Well, actually, I meant the "This is the start of a beautiful friendship" was clichéd. You can't deny _that_. And yes, at the moment, James is a troll. But he gets better. Yeah, I thought about making Alice motherly, but that's how _I_ am, and I wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me, so I wrote her differently. Claire's kinda motherly, so that makes up for it. Ok, I know this is kinda mean, but you wrote "There's a couple of minor typos in tense and splelling." I dunno, it just seems funny to me. I may get a beta. But since this is my first fic, I'm hoping that my writing will get better so that I don't need one. I thought about writing about the days before Christmas, but then I realized that this was the 5th chapter, and I only intended to have 5 in the first place, so I figured that I might as well make it 8 chapters instead of 12. Basically, the two avoided each other. I know, Lily's parents always die. At first I was gonna to go that route, but I got your review, and I went back and checked some stories. About 30 had them die. That was too many for me, so I changed it. I hope it's not too bad...But don't worry, I'm not speeding their relationship up or anything. It's not like they're gonna have sex or anything like that. I like the pace it's going, so I'll leave it at that for a while. And the whole Sirius thing is my favorite part in the story.

lsejrcfldfk.: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it!

Shattered Serenity: Oh, ok. It's just that I email my replies to everyone, so that I don't have to write really long ones on here. (See above.)-Laughs- I sometimes do that to my sisters. Only I'm usually writing my fic, so it'll say, "Lily walked into him and MM360'll shove crayons up her sister's nose if she doesn't walk away this exact second." And they scamper away. It's really funny. Thanks for the cookie! -Hands SS another cookie- Here's one for you! Well, remember how James and Lily were avoiding one another? James is too embarrassed to do anything and Lily's just confused. So basically they just avoided each other until Christmas. It's mostly because_ every_ other fic has him make a move on her quickly. I think differently. He's a lot more shy here than anywhere else. I like that my fic's individual. Um, well, I can't update in 2 seconds, you know, but I'll try! And please do update Drink Up Me Hearties. I love that fic!

As for the other 67 of you who didn't review...ugh, you know what, I may just lose my temper with you, so thanks for reading, but WOULD IT KILL YOU TO REVIEW? I'm just asking...

Ok, well, on with chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. I never have, never will. I don't own Don't Let Him Go. Ditto.

* * *

_Take it easy, take it slow

* * *

_

Lily sat kneeling in the Heads' common room, staring at the fire burning slowly in the grate. Her thin frame, which was pushed up against an oversized chair's arm, was rigid and stiff. The glow from the fire reflected off the tears forming in her eyes and the trails the shed ones had taken. She didn't bother to wipe them away to hide the evidence. She didn't care about that or anything at the moment. In her mind, she never would.

The letter that she had received was in her lap, its contents facing down. Lily couldn't stand to look at it anymore. She had already memorized its words...

_Dear Lily, _

_I really hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but your grandmother Evans has just passed away. Apparently she died of a heart attack, but the doctors say that there were some other factors that may have resulted in her death. We've cut our cruise short in order to plan her funeral, which will take place over your Easter holiday. I'm so sorry, sweetie. I know how much you loved her._

_Also, your father and I are going through some extremely difficult times at the moment. Actually, we have been for a while. We've tried our hardest to put on happy faces when you come home, because we're so happy to see you and we want nothing to ruin your summer. We really did try to work things out, and this cruise was our last attempt to salvage our marriage. But your grandmother's death brought in to sharp relief just how short life is, and forced us to think about whether or not we'd be happier leading separate lives. Judging by the fact that you're a smart girl, I assume you know what this means. Lily, your father and I have decided to get a divorce._

_We know how hurt you must be, and how angry. But please understand, we want this. What we don't want is for you to blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you or the fact that you're away for most of the year. Please understand that._

_I'm sorry, Lily, this all must come as a shock to you, but had you been here, you probably would've seen the signs and knew it was coming, as Petunia has no doubt told you in her numerous letters. _

_We'll see you over Easter holiday!_

_With much love and sorrow,_

_Mother _

Lily sat staring at the fire, silently loathing her parents. What a cheery letter to send their daughter: Sorry, but your grandma's dead. Oh, and by the way, we're getting divorced. See you at the funeral! How could her parents do this? How could they? Lily realized that probably the only reason they stayed together in the first place was because of her and Petunia. _So basically they led miserable lives just to make us happy. That sure makes me feel better,_ she thought.

What she really hated was that her parents thought that this had nothing to do with her. As if it didn't affect her life in the least. Lily snorted through her tears. If they thought this didn't affect her life in any way, they were in for a rude awakening.

And her grandmother…Lily remembered being seven years old and sitting on her grandma's lap, thinking, _When I grow up, I'm gonna be a grandma, and I'm gonna love my little grandkids just as much as my grandma loves me_. Lily loved her grandmother dearly. The only real time she got to see her was at Christmas, and now, the one time she missed it, her grandmother died. Lily shut her eyes, trying not to picture her grandmother lying in coffin.

So now, not only was her beloved grandmother dead, her parents were getting a divorce, her sister hated her, and her enemy liked her. What kind of world was Lily living in?

Lily's eyes glittered with tears as she sat there, staring at the fire, wishing with all her might that she could muster up her strength and jump in and just burn. It may help stop the pain she was feeling inside.

She sat there for a long time before she heard the Heads' portrait door open. Lily willed herself to become invisible just so she could evade notice and questioning. But instead, the person walked slowly and quietly up behind her and stopped, staring into the flames over her. After a little while, they sat down next to her, yet continued to be silent. Lily stayed still and silent the whole time, not daring to look at the other person. She had already known who it was from the moment they entered the room. It was as though she could sense him, ever since that day.

Lily suddenly felt a blanket wrap itself around her shoulders. She kept still, seemingly ignoring its presence. James's voice spoke. "Evans - Lily, what happened?"

Lily neither could nor would tell him. Instead, she thrust the letter into James's hands without looking at him. As he read, she felt him grip her shoulder in a protective sort of way. He looked at Lily with sad eyes, only to watch a tear make its way slowly down her porcelain face.

Lily could feel his gaze on her, yet it didn't unnerve her as it had before. Instead, she felt nothing but sadness and anger at her parents and at herself. The three seemed to share the blame for all of this.

"Lily?" James said, but Lily kept her face away from him. "Are you okay?"

"Okay...? Do I look okay to you?" She asked calmly, quietly, her eyes still on the fire. Not waiting for an answer, Lily continued. "My grandmother's dead, Potter. She's gone. I'll never see her again. And my parents are getting a divorce. My family is falling apart before my eyes, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's gone. My family is gone. Does that sound 'okay' to you? I mean, what am I gonna do when I graduate, before I get a job? Who will I stay with? I can't choose between my mum or my dad, they're both my parents! Where am I gonna go?"

James seemed a bit overwhelmed, but he soon regained his composure. He contemplated his answer. "Don't you have a sister? I thought I heard you talking about her a few days ago..."

Lily turned her head toward him and laughed coldly and humorlessly. "Well, you obviously eavesdropped on the wrong part of the conversation. Petunia despises me. She's no sister or anything else to me." Her eyes once again found the fire.

James' hand remained on her shoulder as he gazed at her. "I'm sorry, Lily." he said quietly.

At this, Lily lost it. "For what?" she asked viciously, shaking her shoulder loose from his grasp and standing up, the blanket falling from her frame. "You're not sorry! You don't even care! You don't care that the only family member who ever really cared about me is dead, that my parents are splitting up, that my sister hates me, that I'm alone here on Christmas, that I'm seventeen and am now responsible for finding a place to stay for the next odd years, or anything! So stop pretending that you do, 'cuz that's what I hate about this world! It's full of bloody assholes who act like they care just to get what they want, when in reality, they don't give a shit! I hate it! I wish this would all just go away!"

Lily stood there, enraged, her fists clenched at her sides. James just looked up at her with sympathy written all over his face. After a few seconds, Lily's knees gave way, and she collapsed into her previous position. Only this time, Lily bit her lip to stop it from trembled as tears fell rapidly from her bloodshot eyes. Yet she continued to stare into the fire as though nothing had happened.

Finally, James broke the silence. "It's gonna be okay, you know." He said quietly, his gaze following hers into the fire.

Lily turned her head to face him. "It's not. I never even got to say good bye to her. And now I'll never see her again. And my parents…what if they start hating each other, and they can never be in the same room together again? I don't think I can deal with them fighting, let alone with _any_ of this…" Lily whispered, her voice dying away.

James eyes found hers once again, and this time, Lily just stared at him, her tears falling freely. After a few moments, James brought his hand up to wipe one of Lily's tears away. Lily recoiled slightly, not wanting to be touched, not wanting to have to notice her tears. Her eyes left his and found the floor.

James' hand stopped several inches from her face, almost as if asking permission to come any closer. When Lily continued to stare at the floor, he cupped her cheek in his palm and wiped a tear away with his thumb. Lily looked at him, her eyes filled with pain and sadness. Then, quite suddenly, she collapsed against him, sobbing uncontrolable. He seemed to be a bit prepared though, because he wrapped his arm around her waist and stroked her back gently. Lily was so lost in her tears that she didn't notice.

Lily cried there for a very long time, gripping James' shirt, trying to hold onto something real. Her world was collapsing before her. She was so lost.

By the time the fire began to die down, Lily had cried herself to sleep, her head resting on James's chest and her hand still gripping his shirt. At least in her dreams, she would be safe from the pain.

_

* * *

_

And don't let him go, don't let him go

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the common room windows, illuminating everything in its path. As it fell across her face, Lily's eyes opened slightly. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the bright beams of light. She lifted her hand up and gently rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Lily felt James stir beneath her and it hit her: she had spent the whole night sleeping _on top of_ James' with his arm wrapped around her.

_Ohhhh, bloody hell_, Lily thought, praying that James didn't wake up. _How am I gonna get out of this?_ _Maybe if I sneak away quietly…Please don't wake up, please don't wake up…_ Lily gingerly tried pulling James' arm away, but that didn't seem to work too well. He shifted slightly before her, and Lily froze. She closed her eyes tight as she heard him groan. He rubbed his eyes slightly. _Wonderful, the idiot woke up, _Lily thought._ Now he's gonna notice that I'm laying on top of him, not even attempting to move. Brilliant. Just bloody brilliant. _

James apparently _did_ notice that Lily was still on top of him, but he mistook her stillness as a sign that she was still asleep. He sat up a bit and ran his fingers gently through her mussed yet still silky tresses. Lily froze, completely caught off guard by this sudden act of near-affection.

Of course, it took her 2 seconds to remember that James was Prongs, who liked her, that her friends were away with their families, that Christmas had come and gone, and that yesterday…

It hit her hard. Waves of grief spread over her, blocking all emotion but sorrow. Lily shut her eyes tight, praying that tears wouldn't overcome her. They didn't. Lily was numb with shock and grief. It seemed that she had cried more tears than she had last night. Last night…

Lily remembered James coming in and trying to comfort her. _Was he?_ He seemed to only bring her more sorrow that night. Had she been left to her own devices, Lily would have probably stayed in front of the fire all night, tears streaming down her face. Instead, she spent the night asleep on top of James Potter, sobbing the whole way through.

How dare he barge right into her problems like that? How rude. Lily's mind blazed with the anger that she normally felt toward Potter. He was no different. Lily had thought that he had changed somehow, but he hadn't. James Potter was still an egotistic asshole, and he always would be.

_But he did try to comfort you_, the devious and hated side of Lily's brain said. _Would you have made it through the night if he hadn't? Would you even be alive now?_ Lily silently shot curses at herself, trying to rid her mind of these plaguing thoughts. But there was no getting around it: James Potter, the bane of her existence, had helped her when no one else had. He was actually being…_nice_. So he _was_ changing after all. It seemed that he was more pleasant and caring. Lily sighed. She liked it better when he was an egotistic asshole. Life was so much easier then.

Lily realized too late that sighing when you're pretending to be asleep isn't a good idea. Apparently, James had realized that Lily was awake, and he sat up gently. _There goes running away before he woke up,_ Lily thought. She moved away from him a bit and looked up at him carefully, almost guarded. He just looked down at her, almost as if see if she was really there. After a minute, he asked, "You okay?"

Lily bit her lip. _Was_ she okay? Would she ever _really_ be okay? Yes, she decided. Someday. She was still in a state of shock, and it would take time for her to get over it. But…Lily knew that someday, she _would_ get over it. "I guess…" She said, looking down.

"You're sure?" James asked gently.

Lily nodded. The logical side of her brain was screaming curses at James. _Stop acting like you care! You don't! You're not really here, this, all of this, it isn't real. Stop acting like you care! _Lily shut her eyes and tried to silence her thoughts. Because as much as she hated to admit it, that hated, devious part of her brain was right: without James, she wouldn't have been able to say that she was ok. Ever.

James ran his fingers through his hair. "C'mon." He said, turning toward the portrait door.

In a sudden burst of curiosity, Lily called after him, "Where're you going?"

"To the kitchens." When Lily looked at him oddly, he chuckled. "I know you're hungry. You skipped dinner and your stomach was rumbling all night." Lily blushed slightly. _Wait, why the hell am I blushing?_ Her brain screamed. Lily mentally slapped herself. No way was she going to with Potter. She needed to get away from him. Far, far away.

Lily's stomach rumbled loudly._ Damn traitor_, Lily thought angrily.

James turned around. "You coming or what?" he asked.

Lily sighed heavily. "Fine." She walked up to James, who grinned slightly and continued out the portrait door.

The two walked in silence for a while, until James asked, "So how are you?"

Lily thought this was a rather stupid question. _Um, hello, my family's falling apart! _"...I'm ok." She said at last.

"Really?" was the reply.

"_Yes_."

"I think you're lying."

"I think I'm not."

"Why don't you tell me how you _really_ feel?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because." Lily said, getting annoyed with the conversation.

"I think I know why."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup." James said. "I think it's cuz you don't want to admit that I helped you feel better last night. I think that you're angry at yourself for _letting_ me comfort you."

Lily looked at him, alarmed. "That's scary."

"What?" James asked, stopping.

Lily continued walking. "Nothing." She said.

James laughed. "You mean that I actually seem to know what you're thinking?" He asked, catching up to her easily. When Lily didn't reply, James said, I know you better than you think."

Lily's eyes darted to him, yet she remained silent. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking...this reminds me of a muggle song I used to like when I was little."

"Oh yeah? What song?" James asked.

"I don't know what it's called. It's a bit old." Lily replied.

"Then sing it."

"No."

Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to."

"And your point?"

"My point is that I'm so unbelievably good looking that you just can't stand to not cater to my every whim." James replied, his eyes glittering. He stopped in front of the entrance to the kitchens.

"Riiiiiiiight." Lily said. James pouted. "Ugh, fine, but I'm not gonna sing the whole thing." She said, aggravation showing on her face.

James waited a second. "So sing."

Lily's eyes blazed. "It a rest. God, just wait a second." she said. She then closed her eyes, took a breath and began to sing...

_If you could read my mind, love_

_What a tale my thoughts would tell_

_Just like a paper-back novel_

_The kind the drugstore sells_

_When you reach the part where the heartaches come_

_The hero would be you_

_The heroes all pull through_

_And you won't read that book again _

_Cuz the pages bend and you just can't put 'em back_

Lily opened her eyes and saw James staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing, you're just a really good singer." James replied.

"Thanks." Lily said, looking at the floor. James laughed. "What?" Lily asked again.

"The song said, 'if you could read my mind'. I guess I can."

"Oh really? And how is it that you can read my mind?"

"I guess you're just easy to predict." was the reply.

"Thanks." Lily said, crossing her arms across her chest. Her stomach gave a loud rumble. James continued his laughing. "Oh, shut up." Lily said. "Just go in, I'm starving." and with that, she shoved James unceremoniously into the kitchens and slammed the door.

* * *

-Smiles- I'm sorry, but I love the ending of this chapter. I don't know why, but the idea of James laughing himself into oblivion is just so appealing.

The song there is one of my favorites. I guess it's 'cuz it describes me a little bit. I don't know who it's by, or even what it's called, but I love it just the same. That said, I DON'T OWN IT.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!

Pleas, please, PLEASE review! (Great, now I'm begging. See what I've been reduced to?)

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	6. Resemblances

A/N: -Hides face in hands- Don't kill me! I know it took me forever to update, but I have a good reason! I was grounded because I didn't wear my orthodontic rubber bands for about 5 days, because I use not wearing my rubber bands as a way to rebel against The Man. You should all take pity on me because I'm so incredibly ignorant that the only way I _can_ rebel is to not wear my rubber bands!

-Sighs- I'm pathetic.

Ok, so yeah, it took me forever to write this one, and let me tell you, I hate it by far the most. Ugh, it's not that it's bad, it's just that I had this overwhelming urge to finish this chapter and just get it out of the way. So if it sucks, never fear! It won't happen again.

Thanks to Anjali, Zemmie, clickhere, Akt5us, and K for reviewing! Cookies to you! As for the other 61 people who didn't review...moo.

Shattered Serenity: I miss your reviews! PLEASE UPDATE DRINK UP ME HEARTIES! IT'S BEEN FOREVER!

Ok, now that I'm done ranting...on with chapter 6!

Disclaimer: I just finished rereading HBP. If I was JKR, it woulda not ended like that. No way. -Sobs-

_

* * *

_

_Baby, don't let him go_

_

* * *

_

Lily was sitting at a small table located near a large fireplace in the kitchens. Her chin was resting on her hand, her elbow propped up on the table. Her shirt was wrinkled from sleeping in it and her fiery hair was mused. She looked exhausted.

After she had dragged James into the kitchens, a crowd of house elves had surrounded them, asking if the two wanted anything. James had offered to get something for them to eat, so Lily went and sat down. And, 10 minutes later, she was still sitting there waiting for James and her food.

She massaged her grumbling stomach_. God, what's taking him so long? I'm **starving,**_ she thought, glancing over at the house elves. They seemed to be hard at work_. Probably getting ready for breakfast_, Lily concluded, then went to check her watch to see what time it was. Of course, her watch was still in her dorm. She hadn't worn it on Christmas.

After a few more minutes went by, Lily's impatience got the better of her. She stood, stretched, and then went off to find James and her much needed food. She walked slowly through aisles of cupboards and elves, but there was still no sign of her so-called companion.

Lily looked around every few steps to make sure she didn't miss him somewhere. But instead of finding a boy with black messy hair and glasses, her eyes landed on a window. After checking to make sure she didn't somehow mistake James for a house elf, she walked towards it and put her hands on the sill.

The outside sky was streaked with pink and red. _It must be almost sunrise_, Lily thought. She continued to look at the sky, watching the sun rays and the moonlight battle for control over the sky. Eventually her gaze shifted toward the school grounds. Hagrid was tending to some animal in his pen. Lily felt bad for him, being outside so early and in winter. Granted, there hadn't been any snow yet that year, which was very odd for a place so far north. It usually snowed in October. _It's probably got something to do with global warming or whatever it's called_, Lily decided, crossing her arms on the sill and leaning in_. It's too bad, too. I really like Hogwarts when there's snow everywhere. Maybe it'll snow this week, or maybe even today. That'd be wicked. I could use some cheering up about now_...

Lily blinked._ No_, she thought._ It can't be_...

A small, white snowflake drifted down and landed on the outdoor window ledge. Lily stared at it with her mouth slightly open, her hot breath fogging up the glass window panes.

Then came another one. And another. Soon snowflakes were swirling down to the grounds below, slowly beginning to coat all of Hogwarts in a thin blanket of white.

Lily heard James' voice from behind her. "Oh, there you are. I thought you'd left. The house elves are almost done with the food-"

"It's snowing..." Lily said quietly, a small smile coming over her face. "It's snowing!" She repeated louder, her smile growing. "I knew it would snow today, I knew it!" She stood there happily for a few minutes, taking in the beauty of the drifting flakes, before asking James, "Tell me, when the snow melts, what does it become?"

James stared at the back of her head, slightly caught off guard by her question. "Um, snow becomes water, right?"

"No," Lily said, turning toward him, her smile still in place, "It becomes spring!" She turned back to the window. "See, in everything, there's some form of ice and snow, like in winter. And then there's always something that can melt it. It's spring. I think spring is my favorite season. Everything comes to life and the world is just so...breathtakingly beautiful." Lily sighed. She watched as several more snowflakes fell.

"Hey, what time is it?" Lily asked suddenly, turning back to James.

"Uh," He said, staring at her. He quickly snapped out of his trance and checked his watch. "Oh, 5:37."

"Hm. We should probably eat, then." Lily said, turning from him and heading back towards the table. James walked beside her, but the two remained silent until Lily exclaimed, "Whoa!"

On the table sat a feast equal in every way to the feast served on Christmas. There was a steaming roast turkey, a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes, biscuits, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce and stuffing, but that was just the main course. On the table next to there's was treacle tart, cherry strudel, pumpkin pie, chocolate-chip cookies, pumpkin pasties and cauldron cakes. 'Whoa' didn't really seem to do the meal justice.

"It's like Thanksgiving at great-aunt Estle's house all over again..." Lily said, her widened eyes taking it all in.

"I thought you'd like it," James said, taking a seat at the small table. "Dig in!" He started to fill his plate.

Lily sat down in a daze, examining all the food. It was then that remembered how hungry she was. In a split second, her plate was filled and she was happily munching on a large slice of turkey. It tasted so good that her mouth watered.

"It's delicious!" James exclaimed, taking second helping of everything.

"For once, I agree with you, Potter." Lily said, shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth. (Hey, teenage girls have to eat too, you know.)

After cleaning his plate a second time, James asked, "So where'd you come up with that snow analogy? It was really...insightful."

Lily looked up at him from her stuffing. "My grandmother asked me what becomes of snow a long time ago, before I came here," she answered, looking back down at her plate, a small smile coming onto her face from the memory. "I told her it became water, because we had just gone over changes of matter in science class at my muggle elementary school. But my grandma shook her head and told me that nearly everyone thinks that, but they're wrong. She told me of how everything has something resembling snow within it. Iciness, I guess. But then she told me that no matter how much of a lost cause that thing or person seems to be, spring will always come, without fail. Because even if there are layers and layers of snow surrounding something, there's always something, or someone for that matter, who can melt it away. It's really nice to think about, huh?" She said, looking back up at James. To her surprise, she saw admiration in his eyes.

"You were really close to your grandmother, weren't you?" He asked softly.

Lily looked at James for a moment, as if scrutinizing him. She then sighed and turned her head to the large fire place and the flames glowing in the grate. "Yes. Like I said earlier, she was the only family member I had who ever really cared about me. See, when I was little, my parents would go away a lot on business. And every time, Petunia and I would be sent to our grandma's. I always loved it there. My grandma lived on about three acres, half field, half forest. I'd go and wander in the woods or pick flowers or vegetables with my grandma. She taught me how to sew and how to cook and bake there. We'd go to drive-in theatres and bowling alleys, even to flea markets. My grandma and I did so much together. She was the only family member who really knew me, the real me...

"But Petunia hated it there. She only ever wanted to hang out with her friends, never with me or our grandmother. I guess it's 'cuz she's four years older and I wasn't cool enough for her standards. She'd complain constantly about being there, so mum and dad started taking less business trips so that we didn't have to go there. Eventually, dad got a new job and mum stopped working, so the only time I'd ever see grandma was on holidays. And then I came here, and I got to see her even less. And now..." Lily's voice broke and she brought her arm up to wipe away her stray tears. She continued. "And now, I'll never see her again. Sometimes...sometime I wish I wasn't a witch, so that I could've been with her when she...when she died. If I'd been home, I woulda seen the signs and known that my parents' marriage was falling apart, too. I just...I just wish that it didn't have to be like this." Lily turned back to her food, which by now was slightly cool. "But I doubt you can understand that." She said suddenly. "It must be easier to listen to someone say all of this than to actually live it."

James thought for a moment. "We all have our problems, you know." Lily looked up at him. "Even me. See, I'm from an old rich wizarding family. My dad works in the Ministry, so he's gone a lot, like your parents. My mum stays at home, but she's really into her social circles of friends and is always off at some tea party or other social gathering. When I was little, my dad would take me to work with him because he wanted me to work in the Ministry just like him.

"But when I was 11, right before I came to Hogwarts, my dad took me to work and I watched him fire someone. It was a middle-aged lady, and she was being fired for sending an owl out too late or something stupid like that. He yelled at her a lot and she kept begging him to let her stay. She kept saying that she was a single mom who had a family to support. She said to him, 'Please sir, I have to send my child to Hogwarts this year, and I can't even pay for his books as it is! Please, what if it was _your_ son who wouldn't be able to have school books and robes?' My dad yelled back, (James adopted a deeper voice) 'Don't you dare compare my family to yours they're on completely different levels.' Then he left the lady in tears and slammed the door. I later found out that that was Remus's mother.

"My dad always said, 'James, you need to know that there are people in this world who don't deserve our sympathy. They're the low life scum who can't do what they're told. When you work here, show them no mercy. If they want success, they have to work for it, like our family has. And if they can't keep a job, then they're not worth the effort.'"

James took up looking at the fire. "After that, I realized that I didn't want to be anything like my dad. I never wanted to think that I was better than someone just because I was richer or had 'better blood'. It doesn't matter. People have to help people, all of them." He shook his head. "I knew that I never wanted to work in the Ministry, so I joined the Quidditch team. My dad wasn't too thrilled. He told me not to waste my time on such petty hobbies. Then Sirius's parent's kicked him out of his house. I offered to let him stay at my place, and apparently my parents' brains were malfunctioning that day, 'cuz they said yes without a fuss, and now Sirius lives with me."

Lily gazed at him. "I guess it's hard to imagine you not having a perfect life. I mean, you've got all the money one could ever dream about, pure blood, and great friends. It seems like you've got it made."

James looked at her sadly. "Just because someone's life seems great doesn't mean it is," he said, a pained smile spreading across his face.

"I'm sorry," Lily said, her eyes on the ground. "I guess I just prejudged you, is all."

'Thanks, but you don't have to apologize. You're not the first to do so." James said, cutting himself a slice of pumpkin pie. "Want some?" He asked, poising to cut her a piece.

"Sure," she said, handing him her plate. "You said Sirius lives with you. Why? And if he does, then why isn't he here too?"

James handed her plate back. "His parents kicked him out, partially because he's in Gryffindor, partially 'cuz he's not a Death Eater. But it's not really my business, so you can ask him about the rest." He took a bite of pie. "And he's not here now 'cuz his uncle died and left him something on his will. Apparently, Sirius was his favorite nephew."

"So then I guess he and I are in similar situations here." Lily said, after swallowing a piece of her pie. "It must've been awful to be kicked out of his house. By his own parent, especially."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't think Sirius cares. He hates his family, and they hate him back." James replied.

"That's gotta be really hard, knowing that your family hates you, and then hating them back."

"But your sister doesn't like you, and you're okay with it," James said, taking a bite of his crust.

"Yeah, but I _do_ care about that. I feel really bad about it, because I didn't do anything to make her hate me. Aside from being a witch." Lily said, finishing up the last of her pie.

James looked slightly angry on her behalf. "She's just jealous. And if I were you I'd forget about her. If she doesn't like you for who you are as opposed to what you are, then she's not worth your time."

Lily reddened slightly. "She's not jealous. She's glad not to be a 'freak'."

"You're not a freak." James said, looking her directly in the eye. "And even if you were, there are a hell of a lot of us 'freaks', as your sister so quaintly put it, who'll help you stop her from thinking that."

Lily took in the meaning of his words. Looking down at her clean plate, she said "I don't...She can think whatever she wants, but despite what I said earlier, I love being a witch. I was born to be who I am now. And I'm glad," She looked up and smiled at James, "That there are people out there that do care a bit."

"Just a bit." James said, smiling back.

* * *

_Just give him a chance to grow_

_

* * *

_

After being escorted back to her dorm by a very willing James, taking a shower and changing her clothes, Lily sent letters out to Claire, Alice and Sarah, explaining what had happened and telling them that she was okay. They each read:

_Dear Claire, Alice and Sarah,_

_I really wish that I didn't have to tell you this in a letter, but there's no helping it. Last night, I got a letter from my mother. My grandmother died of a heart attack on Christmas day. And apparently, her death jolted my parents into realizing that they want a divorce. _

_Don't worry, I'm doing okay. There was an...odd occurrence that really helped me get over it a bit, so I'm much better than I was when I first found out. (I'll explain when you get back.) I'm gonna be alright. I promise. _

_Hope your holiday's going well, and wishing the best,_

_Lily_

Late in the evening when break finished, Lily exited the Heads' dorms with her belongings only to crash into a very concerned looking Claire. After wrenching Lily's box out of her arms, Claire enveloped Lily in a bone crushing hug. Lily, who was trying to free herself from Claire's grasp, looked up just in time to see Alice and Sarah run up to hug her as well. After being squeezed to death by her friends, Lily piped up. "Um, guys? Why don't we go back to the dorm?"

Claire, Alice and Sarah exchanged looks. "Okay," Claire said, pulling out the letter and waving it in Lily's face. "But we're gonna talk aboutthis there. I've been agonizing overit for 2 and a half days. Could your letter have been anymore vague?"

"Well, I could've _not_ sent a letter. Then you'd just be really surprised, so be thankful I warned you in advance," Lily replied, picking her box back up off the ground.

"Uh, Lily?" Sarah asked, watching her friend struggle with her belongings. "Why don't you just levitate the box back?"

"Huh? Oh, good question. I didn't think about it. I'll just do that now..." Lily replied. Her three friends looked at each other once again: What on earth was wrong with Lily?

As they neared the Gryffindor common room, Lily stopped suddenly and turned to Claire, Alice and Sarah. "Look, if anything...out of the ordinary happens in the common room, don't say anything. I'll tell you when we get to our room, okay?"

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Lily, what are you-"

"Claire, please don't ask. I'll tell you when we get to the room. I promise." And with that, she gave the password ("Chimeara.") and climbed through the portrait hole, the others following in bewildered silence.

About halfway through the common room, their path was interrupted by a cheery looking Sirius Black, who said, "My, it's Little Red Riding Hood! Just who I've been searching for! Do my ears deceive me, or have you been warming up to our dear Jamsie?"

Lily rolled her eyes while three jaws dropped simultaneously behind her. "Where did you hear that?" She asked, her eyes darting quickly to James and back. He was watching her again.

"When I came back to our_ lovely_ school, I heard some young Hufflepuffs giggling about the Head Boy and Head Girl. So, being the wonderfully charming person that I am, I coaxed them into telling me what they were talking about. And you wouldn't believe what they said." Sirius replied, making dramatic arm movements and speaking loud enough as to attract the attention of the entire common room.

"They told me that James Potter and Lily Evans spent a lot of their time over the holidays_ together_. They were seen walking down the hall and sitting at dinner together. Prongs would comment on the matter, but what do _you_ have to say, Lilykins?" He asked, pointing at Lily, who felt that the common room had suddenly gotten way too crowded.

"Look Black-" She started, only to be cut off by a familiar voice.

"Leave her alone, Sirius. Hufflepuff house is the gossip capital of this school. You should know better than to believe anything they're talking about." James said, coming up to stand between Lily and Sirius.

"So you're not an item, then?" Sirius asked, looking almost crestfallen.

"We were going over information for the prefects meetings. It's not like that's completely out of the ordinary," Lily said, hoping that her voice sounded convincing. "And no we're not an 'item', as you put it."

Sirius huffed and went back to the table that he and the other Maraurderers were sitting at. Lily looked momentarily at James and gave him a grateful smile. He nodded his head in return and joined his friends at their table.

Claire took this moment to speak. "To the dorm then, Lily?" She asked, no patience in her voice what-so-ever.

"Right," Lily replied, following her friends as the ascended quickly up the stairs.

Once they entered the room, Claire, Alice and Sarah turned to Lily and said, "Spill."

Lily took a deep breath. "Okay, but I think you're gonna want to sit down for this one..." And with that, she told them everything. How she'd avoided James up until Christmas dinner, how she'd gotten her letter, how she'd sobbed herself to sleep on top of him, how he'd treated her to breakfast, and how over the last few days hehadn't strayed too far from her side, just in case she wanted to talk about things. As she was speaking, Claire, Alice and Sarah each took on bewildered looks. James Potter, being nice to Lily Evans? What the hell?

"And so now, everyone's back, and I don't know what to do." Lily said, sitting down. After getting a glimpse of a different James Potter, she'd actually started to not despise his presence, perhaps even consider him a (Dare I say it?) friend. But since everyone had come back, would he resume his usual annoying antics?

"Lily, if you're so concerned about all of this, you should talk toJames about it, not us," Sarah said, putting her hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Sarah's right, Lils. We can help you through this, but I think it'd make you feel better if you talked to him." Claire agreed. Alice, who was sitting next to Claire, nodded.

"Look guys - I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I think I just need time to myself for a while. You know, sort out my thoughts and stuff." Lily said, standing up and grabbing her pajamas. "And besides, I'm a bit tired. I may just turn in for the night."

"Ok, fine," Claire said stubbornly. "But I still think you should talk to him."

"Seconded." Alice added.

After a few minutes in the bathroom, Lily was in bed with the new novel she'd gotten for Christmas. Once everyone else was in bed, she placed her book back on her night stand. Sliding under the covers, she said,"It feels so nice to be back in my bed."

"Yeah," said Alice. "I had to use the guest bedroom at my house. I will never forgive my parents for that mattress."

Lily sighed, thinking. It was really nice to be back with her friends again. But something kept nagging at her, almost as if she'd forgotten to do something...

"Hey Lily?" Claire asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Are you starting to fall for Potter?"

Lily blinked and rolled to face her friend. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Are you gonna answer the question?"

"You should already know the answer," Lily said, turning back onto her back.

"Yes, but my answer may be very different from your own."

"I doubt it," Lily said. To show that the conversation was over, she yawned hugely and rolled onto her stomach, closing her eyes. "G'night, guys." She said.

"Night," the other three answered.

They lay in silence for several minutes until Lily was almost asleep, when Sarah said, "Hey Lily?"

Lily groaned as if to say, 'What?'

"You thanked Potter for helping you through all of that, didn't you?"

Lily's eyes snapped open. _Shit!

* * *

_

-Sighs- Ok, so it wasn't _that_ bad. But I think the ending is a tad rushed. Oh well.

Alright, I spent 3 weeks agonizing over whether or not I'd have any reviewers left after this, so to show you care, which you may or may not, PLEASE REVIEW!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	7. Forgiveness

A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm back with the next chapter of DLHG! Woot! -Does Happy Dance- ...Yeah, I'm in a really good mood right now, even though I'm sick. -Coughs-

Thanks to Anjali, Daisy Pixie, and Zemmie for reviewing for chapter 6, and Feye for chapter 5. You guys are awesome! -Turns to other readers with look of deepest loathing- Haha, just kidding. As for the other 63 of you who _didn't_ review, I'm really glad you've read and stuck with my story, but this is the second to last chapter, so you'd better review soon. I repeat, THIS IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER, SO YOU BETTER REVIEW!

-Sighs and coughs- Yelling when you have a cold isn't a good idea. I'm sick, and I still post my new chapters. -Sneezes and blows nose- You should all be grateful. Or not.

So, enjoy chapter 7!

Disclaimer: -Sneezes- I'm in no state to come up with something witty right now. I don't own anything.

_

* * *

_

_Take it easy, take it slow_

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* * *

_

Lily knew that deep down inside, she was a horrible person. She knew it. Why else would she have forgotten to thank James? All that time she spent spilling her guts to him, and she didn't even say, "Oh yeah, thanks for listening to me ramble"?

"Lily?" Claire asked.

"Huh? Oh - yeah, I thanked him. Of course I did," Lily lied quickly, yawning for the last half, hoping that it sounded more realistic.

Apparently, her fake exhaustion convinced the others, because Alice said, "Okay," and the three soon feel asleep, their breath slow and even.

But Lily couldn't sleep. She turned Claire's words over in her head again and again. 'You should talk to him...' But what would she say? Lily Evans thanking James Potter- those five words had never been used in a sentence before, much less even thought of.

As the night dragged on, Lily kept trying to think up ways to show her gratitude towardsJames, but her mind was drawing a complete blank. _How do you thank someone that you until recently hated?_

Lily turned onto her back. With James haunting her thoughts like this, there was no way she'd ever get to sleep. And Lily quite frankly did not want to fall asleep in History of Magic the next day. Someone did after all have to take notes. But how on earth was she supposed to sleep if she couldn't stop thinking about James?

_Oh, God..._Lily thought, mentally slapping herself forcefully. She was up late thinking about _James Potter_.

And then it came to her: she'd just have to tell him tonight. It'd be easy, just go up to his room, knock on the door - one of them was bound to be up to let her in - and then she'd just...say thank you. And then she'd leave. Her plan was easy as pie, but would it work?

Lily glanced at the clock and groaned - it was 2:39 a.m. She didn't have time to worry about whether or not her plan would fail. There were onlyfour hours until she had to wake up. After all, the plan was practically infallible. And with that last thought, Lily made up her mind.

She slowly sat up and slid off her bed, leaving the hangings closed, just in case any of the others woke up. She walked silently towards the door, grabbing her wand just in case. Lily stepped slowly down the stairs, her bare feet softly padding the hard-wooded steps as she descended.

WhenLily reached the common room, she stopped and looked around, a little paranoid at that particular moment. Her eyes landed on the fire that was glowing softly in the large grate. How many memories she'd created in front of a fireplace...after all, she'd found out that her grandmother had died, that her parents were getting divorced, slept on top of James, ate a wonderful meal, and spilled her guts to an almost complete stranger in front of a glowing fire.

Lily silently shook herself and turned her eyes to the boys' staircase. Walking on the tips of her toes, she silently made her way across the room and, taking a breath, began her ascent up the stairs.

At the very top, she found the seventh year boy's dorm. Lily stood there for a second, her nerves overwhelming her. What if she woke someone else up? What would they say if they saw Lily Evans at James Potter's door in the middle of the night? Lily shuddered and made to turn around and go back to the safety of her warm bed, but something held her back. It was that nagging guilt that she had felt while laying in her dorm earlier. It came in great pangs and forced Lily to turn around. _Okay, I can do this. Okay. I'm okay_, she thought. She walked back up to the door. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath,Lily knocked softly three times. She bit her lip, hoping she didn't wake up any unwanted company.

But after a few moments, there was no sound. Lily pressed her ear up to the door, listening for movement. There was nothing but the sound of muffled snores. Lily's gaze went down to the door handle located near her waist. Should she just go in? Was she even allowed to? _Well, yeah_, she thought. After all, she _was_ the Head Girl, and it said in the job description that if there was suspected wrong-doing going on in a dorm, the Heads had a right to enter. Of course, the suspected wrong-doing was on the other side of the door, but it still counted. Bearing this in mind, Lily pulled out her wand and silently tapped the handle once. She careful stowed her wand back in her pocket before grasping the handle. She took another deep breath and quietly opened the door.

Lily had never seen such a messy room in her life. There were clothes, parchments, some stuff from Zonko's, and a few things that she was pretty sure weren't allowed within the castle grounds scattered all over the floor and four dressers. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to determine which bed was James'. Her eyes landed on a clean patch in the filth. _Well, there's Remus' bed... _Lily concluded. Deciding that she couldn't just wait until he got up, Lily stepped into the room and slowly, quietly, and carefully navigated through the junk littering the floor.

She finally made it to the first bed and carefully pulled back the curtains, instantly know it was Peter's. That is, unless James or Sirius wore flannel pajamas with teddy bears on them. Lily fought back the urge to laugh as she closed the curtains and waded over to the next bed, which turned out to be Sirius'. When she opened the hangings, he groaned and started mumbling. Remembering where she was, Lily quickly ducked down, her eyes closed tightly, praying to God that he didn't wake up.

But after a few moments, Lily heard soft snores from above her and turn her head to make sure Sirius was definitely asleep. He was. Lily softly closed the curtains and made another attempt through the room to the last bed. She slunk silently up to it and pulled open the hangings.

Lilyknew it was James' bed before she got there, but it still surprisedher to see him laying there on his back, wearing noting but a pair of plaid pajama pants. Her breath caught as she gazed at him, taking in his finely contoured arms and chest, his messy mop of ebony hair, his peaceful expression...

Lily turned and slid down to the floor, leaning back on James' bed, her eyes wide with confusion.

She had just caught herself staring at James Potter. While he slept. In the dark. In the boy's dormitory. Once again, Claire's words echoed in her head. 'Are you starting to fall for James Potter?'

_No_, Lily thought quickly. _I just...what girl in their right mind **wouldn't** stare? I mean, he's really hot and_- Lily silently clapped her hand to her mouth. She had just called James Potter hot.

Leaning forward, Lily fought the urge to cry. What was happening to her? Why on earth was she calling the bane of her existence hot? _He's not hot! He's an egotistic womanizing bastard!_ Lily's head screamed. But something was wrong with that statement. Deep down inside, Lily knew that he wasn't an egotistic womanizing bastard. Well, okay, so he was something of a womanizer, and there were times when he was very egotistic, and well, who isn't a bastard sometimes? But Lily just couldn't hold it against him. Something inside of her just wouldn't allow it. Lily's hand feel away from her face as realization dawned on her.

She had forgiven him.

Lily Evans had forgiven James Potter.

For every prank.

For every mean comment.

For every hex he shot at her (And thankfully missed).

For being the way he was.

And the worst part of it all was that she didn't even know why. But as her mind traveled back to everything that had happened over the last couple of days, Lily knew why. It was because he had shown her that he was more than just the popular guy who waltzed around the corridors with a girl on each arm. More than the Quidditch-playing jock who was always the center of attention. More than the person she had thought him to be.

Lily closed her eyes and got to her feet, her knees trembling slightly. After all, it wasn't everyday you forgave the boy you thought could never change. And one thing that Lily really hated was change.

Turning back to James, she took a deep, calming breath and let her fingers gently graze his bare shoulder. He groaned and shifted his head a bit, his hazel eyes slowly opening and coming into focus. When he saw Lily, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but Lily silently clapped her hand over his mouth and signaled for him to be quiet.

"Can I talk to you?" She whispered almost inaudibly, her face close to his. James' eyes bore into hers, but he nodded and Lily dropped her hand, ignoring the tingling feeling in it. James sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked back at Lily, almost as if making sure she was really there. He then slipped cat-like out of his bed and joined Lily in her attempts to get back to the door. The two quietly snuck out of the room and walked silently down the stairs.

Once they reached the common room, James turn to Lily with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay, Lily?" He asked her, his eyes once again boring into her emerald orbs.

Lily looked up at him. "I- yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to, um, I wanted to..."

"Yes?" James asked, taking a small step closer.

Lily just kept staring into his eyes, feeling her own prickle slightly. Before she or James knew what was happening, she launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.

Taken by surprise, James staggered a bit before regaining his balance and staring down at Lily, who seemed to be clinging on to him for dear life. "Lily, what on earth-"

"I'm sorry!" Lily cried, burring her face in James' chest. "I'm sorry that I never thanked you for helping me through everything that's happened recently. I'm so sorry!"

James was once again caught off guard by this. But a second later, he smiled down at the top of Lily's head and wrapped his arms around her back, trying to comfort her. "You're welcome," he whispered into her hair.

Lily looked up, backing away slightly. "But I've been such a horrible person to you. I mean, all that time, I'd prejudged you, and then I didn't even thank you for being there for me. Why would you _ever_ forgive me?"

James smiled. "Because _I_ was the one who was always horrible to _you_. Don't you remember all those times I'd made fun of you? All those times I'd pranked you?" Lily nodded. "After all that, I was really surprised that you even let me within 20 yards of you, much less help you feel better. It was sort of an honor for me."

Lily blinked. "You're kidding, right? An honor to comfort me? Why would you even say that?"

"Because you didn't kill me. And _that_ is an honor," James said, releasing his grip on Lily, who felt oddly cold without his arms around her. "And besides, I should be the one apologizing. Think you could forgive me?" He asked, flashing her famous heart-melting smile. Much to Lily's dismay, she felt her knees shake slightly. She tried in vain to fight back a smile, but she couldn't help it.

"Alright, fine," She said, sighing in defeat. James grinned at her and wrapped his arms around her once again, lifted her up and spun her around.

"Ahhhhhh, James, stop!" Lily shrieked, completely forgetting that it was 4:00 in the morning and that normal people didn't wake up for another three hours.

James set Lily back down and looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "That's the first time you've ever called me by my first name," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Lily reddened slightly. "Well, I might as well call you James. I mean, we're sorta friends, now, right?" She said, hoping she didn't sound too much like an idiot.

James hitched an offended look on his face. "'Sorta friends'?" He asked. Then, putting on a pout, he turned from her and said, "You cut me deep, Lils."

Lily rolled her eyes and walked around in front of him "Okay, we're friends." She said, placing a hand on his arm.

"You're sure, then?" James asked, looking up.

Lily smiled. "Yes."

"Okay, good, 'cuz now I can tell you how good that looks on you." James said quirking an eyebrow and looking Lily up and down, a devilish smirk playing on his face.

Lily looked down. She had completely forgotten that she was wearing a short, sleeveless, white silk nightgown. She looked back up at him, her eyes blazing. "You're such a pervert!" She said fiercely, yet smiling at the same time. Hey, Lily may be very conservative, but she liked to be complimented too.

"You're not gonna comment on _my_ ensemble?" James asked, skirting out of Lily's reach.

"Well, I could, but I don't think it'd do your ego any good." Lily said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hey, you can't tell me I don't look good without a shirt." James said, mimicking Lily by placing his hands on his hips.

Lily rolled her eyes hugely. "Seriously, do you ever talk about anything but how handsome you are?" She asked in mock annoyance.

"Hey, I never said I was handsome," James retorted. When Lily raised an eyebrow, he said, "Just incredibly good looking. But I'm glad _you_ think I'm handsome," he said, leaning towards Lily a little.

"What! I never said that! I was merely making a comment on your overly egotistic ways!" Lily said, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Once again, you cut me deep, Lils. But for what it's worth," He said, coming up right in front of her and leaning in. "I think you're _very_ pretty." He whispered into her ear, sending shivers straight down her spine. Lily blushed a fantastic shade of red as James looked into her eyes and winked.

"'Night, Lils," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and going back up to his dormitory, leaving Lily frozen there, her fingers subconsciously moving up to her face to light touch the place where his lips had brushed her skin.

* * *

_And don't let him go, don't let him go_

_

* * *

_

"Morning, Lily," Sarah said at breakfast that day as Lily sat herself across from Claire. "You sure slept in today."

Lily shrugged, helping herself to some toast and marmalade. "I didn't sleep much last night. I had too much on my mind."

"Oh?" Claire asked, folding her arms on the table and leaning in towards Lily. "Could any of those _things_ be acertain boy sitting thirteen seats to the right of you?"

Lily looked up at Claire then leaned back to see who she was talking about, already pretty sure who it was. It was none other than James, just as she'd thought. Turning back to her friends, Lily said, "Claire, how many times must I tell you that I don't like James?"

"Ohh, so it's James now, is it?" Claire asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Lily flushed. "Well, why should I _not_ call him by his first name? I mean, he and I both agreed that we're now friends of sorts, so it's only appropriate," she said, vainly attempting to keep a professional manner about her.

Sarah blinked. "So basically, after he comforted you and spent all that time looking out for you, you two decided you were friends? Just like that? What about all the stuff he did to you?"

Lily sighed. "Well, to answer you're first question, yes, we're friends. Second, it wasn't really all that sudden, I mean he did cheer me up a lot during the holidays, and, well, as much as I hated to admit it, that qualifies as a friend-worthy quality." Lily took a bite of her toast. "And about your last question...I guess I just..._forgave him_."

Alice gasped.

Sarah's eyebrows flew into her hairline.

Claire blatantly stared. "Okay, who are you and what the bloody hell have you done with Lily?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Really, guys, you're acting like this is some kind of catastrophic event or something."

"Well it _is_," Alice said, coming out of her shocked state. "I mean, throughout our entire Hogwarts career, things have been changing drastically. I mean, first guys start liking girls and vice versa, then that Lord What's-his-face, er, Voldemort comes and threatens to wreck havoc on the wizarding world, then before we know it, we're in our last year at Hogwarts with graduation staring us in the eyes. And this whole time, the one thing we've been able to count on to always be the same, to never waver, is James Potter and Lily Evans hating each other. And then, boom, they're friends. What's this place coming to?" She ranted loudly, gaining the attention of several people in the Great Hall.

Lily looked around before replying, "Look, Alice, it's not that big a deal. I mean, we don't _like_ each other or anything, we simply forgave our differences and are moving on to look past them. People change, it's a fact of life. Besides, it's not like we're getting married or anything."

"I dunno, Lils," Claire injected. "You know what they say: The best lovers always come from the best of friends."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, first off, we're not best friends, no where near that. Honestly," She added, noticing Sarah, Alice and Claire's unconvinced faces. "Second, could you seriously picture James and me together?"

Sarah shrugged. "Like you said, Lily, people change. Who knows, infive monthsyou could have a gold ring on your finger and be called Mrs. Lily Potter."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Sarah, I honestly think your imagination's running away with you. I mean, Lily Potter doesn't even sound that great."

"Whatever you say, Lils," Claire said, turning back to her breakfast.

Lily glanced between her three friends. Rolling her eyes, she said, "You three are unbelievable. It almost seems like you _want_ me and James to end up together."

"What?" Claire said, disbelief etched into her pretty face. "Why on earth would we want that?"

"Did you not hear my rant?" Alice asked, furrowing her brows slightly.

"Really, Lily, we know you don't like him that way. It's not like we'd force him on you." Sarah said, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.

Lily didn't notice that neither Sarah nor Alice met her eyes. Instead, she laughed softly and said, "You're right, why on earth _would_ you want that? Sorry." She stood to get ready to go.

"No problem, Lily," Sarah said, smiling up at the red-head.

"Are you leaving already? You've barely had anything to eat..." Claire asked Lily in a slightly concerned tone.

Lily shrugged. "I'm not really hungry this morning. And I've gotta finish the Transfigurations essay McGonagall assigned yesterday. I don't want to fall behind."

"Um, Lily, that essay isn't due for two weeks." Alice said.

"Yeah, well, why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?" Lily replied. Smiling, she said, "If you need me, I'll be in the library." And with that, she turned and headed towards the large oak doors leading to the corridor.

But before she reached them, a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a halt. Already knowing whose hand it was, Lily sighedand said loudly, "Gee, I wish people wouldn't stop random peoplefrom leaving breakfast." She turned and found herself staring at non other than James Potter.

"Well, you know me, I just love to hold people up," he replied, grinning up at her.

Lily's heart skipped a beat, but she ignored it. "Are you gonna invite me to sit, or are you just gonna make me stand here?" She asked, putting her free hand on her hip.

James stood and gestured to the seat to his left. "Milady?" he said, extending a hand. Lilyrolled her eyes at him and sat down, smiling at Peter, who looked thunderstruck; Sirius, whose spoon missed his mouth, sending oatmeal down his front; and Remus, who had an odd, knowing look about him.

"Don't tell me you wereleaving breakfast already," James said, sitting down beside her. "Let me guess, you're going to go do homework that's not due for two weeks."

"And if I was?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'd say you we're mental." James replied, smirking.

Lily smirked back. "Ohhh, so _I'm _the mental one now?"

"Mmm-hmm." James replied.

Lily glared at him for a second before her face broke into a dazzling smile and she said, "I don't think it's wise for the most mentally unstable person in this entire room to call someone who's simply trying to get her work done mental, but that's just me."

James smiled back. "One could argue against that point."

"Oh, really?" Lily said, before laughing lightly and standing up. "I'll see you later, James."

"Definitely." Was the reply.

Lily smiled and said, "Bye Remus, Peter, Sirius." And with that, she walked the rest of the way to the doors and exited the Great Hall.

It was only after that that people started whispering excitedly about what had just happened. Fourteen seats away from the Marauderers, Claire, Alice and Sarah were all talking quietly, their heads bent together.

"So we definitely think that Lily and James should be together, then?" Sarah asked.

Alice and Claire exchanged glances before saying, "Duh," in unison.

"We've gotta think of some way to get them alone together..." Alice said, tapping her temple with her forefinger.

"Oh, I've got an idea." Claire said slyly. "Afterall, no matter what she says, Lily Potter just sounds too good."

* * *

So, what'd you think? Love it? Hate it? REVIEW! 

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


	8. Moving Forward

A/N: -Sits unnaturally still- ...IT'S DONE! -Sobs and laughs at the same time. Readers stare- I'll miss this so much.

This chapter was probably the most difficult for me to write, mostly because I knew how it'd end, but I had a lotta trouble building up to it. So I had to write it in weird spurts. Trust me, it's no easy feat.

I felt like making this a ramble chapter, but I would never do that to you guys, so I changed it. Drastically. So be happy that I care so much about my lovely readers, even if those of you who don't review. -Grumbles- But thanks to Daisy Pixie, Akt5us,click here, Nicole, thatwasthelasttheyeversawofher, Zemmie, and ilovedrew88 for reviewing! I love you guys!

Nicole: Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

click here: Doesn't it though? But it's a shame Lily gave up her maiden name too, I guess...thanks, though!

Note: There's a big circlish hill surrounding the big lake. Just giving you some background information.

I'll do the Disclaimer at the end.

So, onto the conclusion of _Don't Let Him Go_...

_

* * *

_

_Don't let him go_

_

* * *

_

"Ah, thank _God _it's the weekend," Claire said, stretching her arms up above her head as she, Lily, Alice and Sarah walked down to the Great Hall for lunch right after Transfigurations.

"Yeah," Lily replied, pulling her ponytail out. She shook her head, her hair falling in cascades down her back.

"Um, Lils, is there any particular reason why you're primping yourself so much?" Claire asked, eyeing Lily suspiciously.

Glancing at her friends, who were all wearing similar expressions, Lily said, "I am not 'primping myself', I was just taking my hair down. It was bothering me up."

"Riiiiiight..." Claire said, running a hand through her own curly locks. "So adding your lovely long hair to your beauty this morning doesn't by any chance have anything to do with a certain boy asking you to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Lily looked at Claire, "What are you talking about? Have I _ever_ cared if a boy asked me out?"

"Oh, so someone _did_ ask you out, then?" Alice asked, her eyes staring intently at Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "I get the hint, guys, and no, no one asked me. And quite frankly, I don't care. I've got to finish that monster of an essay Slughorn gave us."

"Oh," Sarah said. "Well, we're all going to Hogsmeade with dates."

"Really? All three of you?" Lily asked, stopping.

"Yup! I'm going with Frank!" Alice said brightly.

"I'm going with Alec Diggory, you know, the guy you turned down the day before the holidays?" Claire said, re-applying her lip gloss.

"What happened to Shawn? You know, your_ boyfriend_?" Lily asked.

"We broke up the day before the holidays. Didn't I tell you about that?" Claire said, stowing her makeup back in her bag.

"Um, no," Lily said, crossing her arms. "And just how many boyfriends have you had this year, Claire Dubois?" she asked with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Uhhh, let's see," Clare said, counting off her fingers. "There was Sirius Black (Lily blanched), Aoi Kyogoku, you know, that hot Japanese guy in Ravenclaw, um... oh yeah, Ryan Galazka, and Shawn."

Lily, Alice and Sarah all stared. "Wait, Ryan Galazka? The Goth guy who graduated last year? How did you guys hook up?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Claire replied with apparent relish. "He lives in Hogsmeade. We started talking a while ago, and you know how much I love bad boys. Well, I couldn't keep myself away." she said, grinning slyly.

"And Alec?" Sarah asked.

"Well, he just asked me to Hogsmead. We're not going out. Yet."

Lily rolled her eyes. If she didn't know better, she would've thought that Claire was the world's biggest slut. But she _did_ know Claire, and knew that she would never go at it with a guy until she loved him, and, judging by the fact that she went through boyfriends as quickly as she did, she wasn't in love. That, and Hogwarts housed some pretty big sluts in itself.

"Anyways," Lily said, getting the subject off Claire, "Who're you going with, Sarah?"

Sarah's shoulders slumped. "She doesn't know." Alice answered for her.

"We're setting her up on a blind date," Claire replied.

"That's so mean." Lily answered.

"_You_ think it's mean? They won't even tell me what house he's in, if it _is_ a he!" Sarah said. "For all I know, they could be setting me up with the giant squid!" Sarah cried indignantly.

Lily laughed and slung an arm over Sarah's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Sarah," she said comfortingly. "There's no way they're _that_ mean." She shot a nasty glare at Claire and Alice, who merely smiled.

"Well, Sarah here won't know until she sees for herself." Claire said.

"Yeah," Alice said, rummaging through her bag. "Oh no - guys, I left my Arithmancy book in the dungeons. I'll meet you guys in the common room." And she ran off back towards the potions room.

After a few seconds, Claire said, "You know, I think I should go with Alice. She can be a little..."

"Absent minded?" Lily supplied.

"A bit," Claire responded. "I'll go catch up to her. See you later!"

Lily and Sarah turned around and continued their trek back to the common room. After a few minutes, the saw a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs heading down towards the potions room. Alec Diggory was with them. As he passed, he winked at Lily, who rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Once the Hufflepuffs had passed, Lily said, "I hope Claire knows what she's doing with the Diggory guy. He seems like a right little womanizer."

"Don't worry about it, Lily," Sarah replied. "Claire's had what, five boyfriends this year? She'll be fine."

Lily sighed. "You're right. I sound like a mother hen with her chicks."

Sarah laughed. "But you know," she said, sobering up almost instantly. "If Alec's down in the dungeons with Claire, there's no telling when she and Alice'll get back. Maybe we should go down there and pull them away from each other..."

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "You're right, Sarah," she responded. She then turned and started walking down the corridor.

"Oh, Lily, wait!" Sarah said loudly. Lily stopped and turned around. "Don't you have to finish that essay for Slughorn?"

"What? Oh - yeah! Thanks for reminding me!" Lily said. "But...do you think you'll be able to wrench Claire and Diggory apart by yourself?"

"Alice is down there too, remember?" Sarah said, walking quickly down the hall. "We'll be fine!" And with that, she hurried out of sight.

Lily smiled and headed back to the common room to finish her essay. _My friends are so nice, caring about me and my well-being like that_, she thought.

But she had no idea just how much they cared about her well-being.

Just down the corridor, in an unused classroom, Sarah, Claire and Alice were sitting on the floor discussing what had just happened.

"That went better than I thought," Claire said, impressed.

"Yeah, up until the part where Alec Diggory passed us and winked at Lily." Sarah said,frowning slightly. "It's a miracle he didn't ask her to Hogsmeade right there."

"_That_ would've let tosome awkward questions," Alice added.

"Yes," Sarah piped. "But I'm surprised that Lily couldn't tell we were lying before that."

"It's not like we were _too_ obvious, though. I mean, settingyou up on a blind date is exactly the type of thing we'd do."Claire injected.

"I'm surprised she didn't ask you guys who it was with, though," Sarah said, relieved. "I thought that'd be our downfall."

"Naw, Lily's been too preoccupied." Claire replied. "I'm guessing she didn't even think to ask."

"So, step one of the plan is complete," Alice exclaimed, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. She wrote a check next to _Leave Lily Alone with James_.

"Now all we've got to do is stand back and let nature take its course." Claire said, rolling up the parchment and stowing it in her bag. "Just watch, girls. Lily and James will get together and they'll never know that we made it happen."

"Let's just hope it stays that way," Sarah said.

* * *

_Baby, don't let him go_

_

* * *

_

Lily was sitting in an over-sized chair, reading her latest paperback novel. Claire, Alice and Sarah were all off on their dates at Hogsmeade, leaving Lily alone in the huge castle. But it wasn't like she minded. After all, what better use of time is there than reading?

...That is, until Lily finished her book. Sure, the book had a happy ending, but she felt a bit depressed, as she always felt when a book ended. Sighing, Lily leaned her head back on the top of the chair, closing her eyes.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" A familiar voice asked from behind Lily's chair. Opening her eyes, she saw that James was leaning over so that his upside-down eyes was looking into hers. "Miss Evans, I presume."

Lily rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, while in truth she'd been waiting for him to come up and talk to her. It was very unusual for them to be left alone, even more so on a Hogsmeade weekend. "Who are you, Sherlock Holmes? I would_ hope_ you know who I am, James Potter."

"And why's that?" James asked, righting himself and walking around to the front of Lily's chair. "Finally joining my fan club, are we?"

Lily laughed. "You wish," she said.

"So, what're you doing?" James asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her. It seemed very odd to Lily that she had to look down in order to see James' face properly. After all, he was a good nine inches taller than her.

"Just reading," She replied, indicating toward her book.

James raised his eyebrows. "What? Lily Evans, reading? Who'd've thought?"

Lily whacked James playfully with her book, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed the book right out of her hand and opened it to a random page. "Hm, let's see what dear Lilykins reads, then, shall we?"

He glanced at Lily, who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Whatever, but you're not gonna like it."

James cleared his throat. "Let's see..._Annie stood on the pier, lost in her deep thoughts. The wind tugged at her chocolate brown tresses, blowing them into her deep sapphire eyes. Her thin white dress blew about her legs and she shivered. Suddenly, she felt arms encircle her waist, instantly warming her. She turned her head to look the person in the eyes, and as she did, her lips were caught up in a passionate kiss. Annie surrendered herself to the wind, completely caught up in the moment of love she now felt with this perfect stranger_-" James stopped and looked up at Lily. "How can you read this without gagging?" He asked with a disgusted expression on his face.

Lily laughed and shook her head. "It serves you right to read the part right before he throws her in the ocean and she drowns. Anyways," she said tucking her legs under her, "What're _you_ doing?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just thought I'd ask if you fancied going for a walk, seeing as everyone else is gone and we have absolutely nothing to entertain us." James replied, shrugging. Lily however, knew that he was not as completely indifferent to her company as he pretended to be.

"Hmmm...I don't know," Lily said glancing out at the snow-covered grounds. "It's a tad cold, don't'cha' think?"

James shrugged again. "Not really. We were practicing Quidditch outside yesterday at 7:30 in the morning, and only three of us suffered from frostbite," he said, smirking. When Lily raised an eyebrow, James said quickly, "Really though, it's not too bad outside. Besides," he said, ruffling his hair a bit, "I seem to recall someone say that she loved the snow."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I'm amazed that you actually remembered that." She said, glancing back outside.

"So will you come?" James asked. Lily's face adopted a skeptical look, so James pouted. "_Pwease_?" He asked, making his eyes go round like a little kid's.

_Dammit, he's so cute when he pouts_, Lily thought, blushing slightly. Then, laughing at the adorably obnoxious look on James' face, she said, "Okay, fine, let me grab my coat..." She stood and started up the girls' staircase.

Once in her room, Lily slid her arms into her black pea coat, pulled a pair of scarlet gloves onto her hands, shoved a black beanie onto her fire-like tresses and topped the whole thing off with her red and gold Gryffindor scarf. She then turned and hurried down the stairs to meet James in the common room.

Once Lily got there, she saw James' eyes scan her body quickly, taking in her somewhat tight, dark denim jeans, her irresistibly red hair flowing down her back, and her slight display of Gryffindor pride. Lily, in somewhat of an awkward position, found her eyes looking at James' slightly worn jeans, his faded leather jacket, _his_ Gryffindor scarf, his adorable messy hair...her fingers itched slightly - how she wished she could run her hands through his hair, just once.

_Wait, what am I thinking?_ Lily's head blared. _This is JAMES POTTER I'm thinking about. My God, I'm actually having romantic thoughts about JAMES!_

Apparently Lily's inner battle had given her a somewhat glazed look, because James said, "Er, Lily? You okay?"

"What?" Lily asked, coming out of her trance. "Oh, yeah, just - just thinking..." _Great, now I'm stuttering, too. What the hell is going on? _

"Ready to go, then?" James asked, ruffling his hair again.

"Yup!" Lily said, smacking herself when James' back was turned.

It took them a few minutes to get out to the grounds, but once her feet touched the snow, Lily was glad she had decided to come. After all, winter _was_ her favorite time of year.

The two headed toward the lake, all the while talking about random things, such as-

"What's your favorite color?" James asked, his face turned to Lily.

"Violet," Lily answered without hesitation. "Then black and scarlet. Yours?

"Red and green." Was the reply.

"For Christmas?" Lily asked.

"Well, that, but mostly for other reasons," James answered.

Turning to look at him, Lily saw that he was staring at her with rapt interest. She suddenly realized why red and green were his favorite colors. Blushing, Lily turned her head back toward the lake. "Oh," she said to fill the silence.

James laughed, then said, "You know, I have to agree with you, winter is beautiful."

Lily let out a breath. "Isn't it, though?" She said, turning to face him again. "I love everything about it!"

"I really like the scenery," James said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Lily didn't notice, and the two walked a little ways in silence, Lily taking in the beauty of the outdoors, James taking in the beauty of, well, other things.

He stopped suddenly at the top of the hill that separated the lake from the rest of the grounds. "You know what the best thing to do in the snow is?" He asked.

"What?" Lily asked back, also stopping.

"Rolling down hills in it." James replied, his face alive with mischief.

Lily raised her eyebrow. "Oh, really." She said, taking a step back from him. She had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen next.

"Really, really." James said, taking a step closer to her. Before Lily could protest, James had lay down on the snow and started rolling, grabbing her arm in the process, sending her tumbling after him.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" She screamed in delight, bringing her arms up to cover her face from the frozen ground and its twelve inches of snow.

And then it was over. Lily opened her eyes and found her self on top of James, his arms around her waist. He'd apparently caught her before she reached the lake.

Smirking up at her, James said, "I'm guessing that you really love being in this position, seeing as it's the second time it's happened."

Lily blushed and started whacking James' chest. "Take that back!" She shrieked indignantly.

But James avoided her blows by flipping her onto the ground, with him on top instead. He was propped up on his elbows, his torso leaning slightly on hers. Lily chose to ignore the currently deafening beat of her heart and said, "Take it back."

"No," Was the reply.

"Yes," Lily said, glaring up at him.

James laughed. "You'rereally prettywhen you're flustered."

"Flustered? Who said I'm flustered?" Lily demanded.

"Well, for starters, your face is about as red as your hair." James smirked again.

"What?" Lily said, putting her gloved hands to her face. She hadn't even felt the blush come on.

James laughed again as Lily's hands left her face defiantly. "Wanna know how else I can tell?"

"How?" Lily asked automatically.

"Because I can feel your heart beating really fast," He said, his face suddenly serious. He grabbed her hand and held it to his own heart. Lily felt it beating rapidly under her palm.

Looking into his eyes, she said, "James, I-"

But what she was going to say was never heard, because at that moment, James lips had swooped down, covering her mouth with his own in a sweet kiss. Lily found herself paralyzed there with James Potter on top of her.

Buta few seconds,James realized what he was doing. His eyes flung open and he pulled back from her swiftly, sitting up. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "Lily, I'm really, really sorry, I-"

Lily grabbed him by his scarf and pulled his mouth back to hers. Closing her eyes, she felt James relax into the kiss and soon his tongue traced her bottom lip, asking for entrance to her mouth. She readily granted hi request.

They lay there, kissing each other sweetly for a few minutes before they broke apart, each breathing heavily, looking into each others' eyes. Then James got to his feet and pulled Lily gently to hers. "It's still early," he said, somewhat hesitantly. "Wanna go to Hogsmead and get a Butterbeer?"

She laced her gloved fingers with his and smiled."I'd love to," she replied. James smiled back.

_This feels so right..._Lily thought as the two walked, hand in hand, across the school grounds.

Claire, Alice and Sarah stood behind Hagrid's hut watching as the couple made their way up to Hogsmead. They all had smiles on their faces, and Alice was sobbing at the romantic-ness of it all.

"Don't let him go, Lily," Claire whispered after her friend's retreating back. "Don't let him go."

* * *

_Don't let him go_

_Just give him a chance to grow_

_Take it easy take it slow_

_And don't let him go_

_Don't let him go _

_

* * *

_

Oh my God, it's OVER! -Sobs-

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or related topics, or the song DLHG. Ryan Galazka is my gothic cousin who actually did graduate last year and is now studing comic design. Aoi Kyogoku (Flippy) is my favorite character from one of my favorite mangas, Imadoki.

-Sighs- Ok, now for the real question...

I have four ideas for what I should do for my next story. They are:

1. (A darker Lily/James story.) Lily's a huge nerd - thick glasses, braids, the whole geek thing. But one day, James sees her in a complety awkward moment and realized that if she stopped pretending to be geeky, she'd be the most beatiful girl in school. The problem starts when the rest of the school startsrealizing that too.

2. (Another L/J fic.) Lily's a quiet maid, James is a rebelious prince. When James disguises himself as a peasent and sees Lily working in the palace kitchens, will he be able to keep himself away? Lily, of course, isn't making it easy. When she finds out he's the cocky, womanizing prince whose familyoppresses her and the rest of the palace servants, will she be able to accept him?

3. (A Harry/Hermione fic.) Ever heard of Love Hina? It'sthe hilarious manga about aklutzy andslightly perverted guywho becomes the landlord of a prestegious yet slightly crazy girls' dorm.And this boy is none other than Harry Potter, whois forced to endure thesometimes less-than-ladylike behaviors of the dorms occupants: Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang, Katie Bell, and Luna Lovegood.

4. (A Moaning Myrtle/Tom Riddle fic. Don't roll your eyes. ) Myrtle's anawkward girl who's badgrades inTransfigurations force McGonagal to give her a tutor - none other than Tom Riddle. Intriged by herimaginative veiws and actual personality, Tom accepts. But what happens when the love of Myrtle's life finds out she's muggleborn?

Ok, so those are the choices.Tell me which one you'd like to see next!

And don't forget, this is the last chapter. SO IF THERE WAS EVER AN OPPRITUNITY FOR YOU TO REVIEW AND REDEEM YOURSELF IN MY EYES, NOW WOULD BE THAT TIME. Thank you.

Thanks so much for sticking by my fic! I love you all!

Hugs and fuzzles

MM360


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